The Living Undead
by Derpamisu
Summary: After the Majigen was sealed, Raptor was finally freed;a later run-in with the person he's searching for leads to an odd partnership fueled on equal purity and malice in the search of a murderer. HsienkoxRaptor, mild AnitaxCecil/TalbainxFelicia. FINISHED!
1. Hey, baby!

Disclaimer: I don't own Darkstalkers, Darkstalkers and everything associated belong to Capcom, you know.

Genre: Action/Romance

Setting: A few years after the ambiguous Dimitri fight with Jedah after Vampire Savior

Canon: Game, mixed with anime slightly, and in a fanmade slight-future

Pairing: From the exposition, it should be obvious.

Author's notes: Please tell me if I got ANYTHING wrong.

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_Hey, baby! I'd die for you!_

Raptor was not what one would call a 'loser'.

He still had a big label even after his death [that was where he got most of his income of both money and souls, after all], and folks loved him. Women loved him.

Women.

In his attitude towards women, he wished to say nothing besides the fact that 'he was a rock star'. He wouldn't admit it, but he was embarrassed by that. He didn't think exploiting women was something to be proud of, so he kept such things to himself.

After that fateful play of his song 'Sacrifice', and Ozomu entered the scene, Raptor's secret desire to kill anything he came across had finally been answered. Promises of power, even with slight servitude, had never looked so appealing to a rockstar.

After he entered the Majigen, and Ozomu vanished, Raptor worked on killing Jedah. That'd give him more power than that fat ol' gourmet Ozomu could ever think of, and the ability to create and destroy _entire worlds_. The chorus of screams and the earth turning red with six billion people's worth of blood.

Too bad that failed, too.

Jedah was beaten by that one playboy vampire with troll-hair, and everything was normal, though Raptor and Le Marta had no master. Freed, able to kill anything, able to eat souls without Ozomu demanding a taste... due to his living appearance, he was even able to walk amongst the living [though people questioned his, err, _blue-colored_ skin], and, like said, was still able to perform. His public wanted more of him, even if he had murdered a hundred of them in public.

He wasn't interested in that right now, though.

Raptor had met a certain… young girl who had caught his eye, and he kept on seeing her here and there, but she had always eluded him [and his not-so-subtle advances], talking to that seal on her head. He thought this was strange, until he realized that someone was helping her; after all, he could CLEARLY see a body emerge from that prayer-slip when he was utterly destroyed by her. And, as Raptor noticed from fighting with her, she had spunk. Nobody these days, when subjected to the harsh ways of the world, had such brimming confidence and cool. Even Raptor himself was nervous at some moments, but she overflowed with composure.

A sixteen-year-old girl displaying more poise than an adult man was disquieting, but Raptor viewed it as attractive. He liked his women to have fight in them, to have a backbone.

His weeks of searching had turned into months. He _would_ find her… Them, really, as there was that weird scroll-twin with her.

Raptor would find that adorable Lei-Lei, his jiang-shi sweetheart.


	2. Nihao!

Author's note: the mixing of Japanese and English names is due to personal taste. If it displeases any purists, I'm sorry, but I prefer 'Lei-Lei' over Hsien-ko, and her sister being 'Lin-lin' would be confusing during certain dialogue and action scenes.

-------

_Nihao!_

Lei-Lei felt déjà vu.

Here she and Mei-Ling had been on the run from those 'holy' anti-Darkstalker men, with Lei-Lei being called a 'monster', Mei-Ling an 'accomplice' and a 'ghost'.

Sadly, that wasn't far from the truth.

All Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling remembered is a man—a suit of armor, specifically— that had entered their neighborhood, and had slain their parents, and the both of them.

Some divine force— though Mei-Ling had pointed out several that it was the same, kind lady who had saved them when the darkness of Majigen was about to steal their souls—had brought them back.

So, the odd feeling of her family dying and being a corpse was déjà vu to Lei-Lei, albeit she did not know its source; she felt it was otherworldly and paranormal.

Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling were a sordid sight; driving along in their beaten-up parent's car without a license [death had an effect on their education, you see], tired, lonely, and unemployed.

Well, their plan was to seek revenge against their murderer, by means of imprisonment.  
But, their rope was growing cold; they had been searching for two years. Their leads went nowhere; the human witnesses were terrified and were more likely to show their guns and cans of mace than a testimony; and their parents weren't anywhere near close to being avenged.

"Darkstalker," Lei-Lei said, "is so derogatory!"

Mei-Ling did not even glance at her sister as she calmly continued to drive; even if she was a ghost, she still had the ability to physically interact with things around her, but she had no sense of texture, temperature, or taste.

"Lei-Lei, this is the fourth time today that we have had this discussion. I will not talk about it any longer."  
Lei-Lei looked at Mei-Ling as if she was a small child whose mother told her that she wasn't allowed to have a pair of gloves.

"But, Sis! Why call 'em 'Darkstalker' if some of us can go out during the day?"

"Lei-Lei, it means that we cannot interact with humans, so we can only hide in their shadows, and seem to not exist."

Lei-Lei sat back in her seat, sharpening one of her knives.  
"We're the stuff of kid's nightmares, eh? I think it's oddly funny that we could appear on an episode of Scooby Doo and fit in."

"Yes, Lei-Lei. But what happens when there's no rubber mask?"  
This scathing criticism made Lei-Lei silent; she remembered when her sister was happy, and not a replacement-mother. Poor Mei-Ling, Lei-Lei thought, a mother at nineteen.

Lei-Lei felt guilt for her slight childishness. She didn't want to hurt her parents' or her sister's wishes, but she secretly longed to kill her murderer and then go adventuring.

That time in Majigen had been secretly thrilling to her, and she longed for nothing more than the ability to duel with those other Darkstalkers, to flirt, to be a girl again.

_A girl who could whoop ass._

She needed her sister, though, to help control her body. She couldn't possibly do such on her own, and would slaughter everything left and right, their morals as tattered as the corpses left and right.  
It was a horrifying power, but Lei-Lei took it in stride. After all, not many enemies had come up anyways, and they were all humans, so they just had to be bruised a little bit.

Lei-Lei secretly wished she had a power to eat souls or something like that. That'd be cool, she thought. She'd teach those perverted old men from asking her sister to 'spend the night'. She didn't like it when people made catcalls at her sister, half because of possessive protectiveness, and half due to slight jealousy.

She couldn't clearly remember anyone who had hit on her, even in life. She had been too tomboyish, more likely to beat up a guy rather than be the damsel in distress.

That, and Lei-Lei still wanted adventure.

Not a transcontinental trek [they started in China, and were now in America] for a man in samurai garb. Why not a fighting tournament? That'd be nice.

Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling had planned to go to one of those residence inns; the kind that didn't have hourly rates, and had nice waitresses. Mei-Ling had to carry Lei-Lei in a huge gym bag, so they wouldn't be detected. Thankfully, this led to hotel rooms costing much less than they would have, and Mei-Ling dying at 18 only barely made her qualify under 'older teen'.

Lei-Lei had to stay in the room while Mei-Ling got Lei-Lei room service; food'd help keep her body from rotting, after all, and prevent the green mold from getting any darker.

Mei-Ling came inside the room, her face blanched as she held the door shut.  
"I-I saw… one of _them_."


	3. A Sordid Sight

_Only hurt them a little bit..._

Mei-Ling was more than horrified. Her seeing a Darkstalker in broad daylight was enough, but it was worse. Oh so very, _very_ worse.

Mei-Ling had gone down to the hotel's dining quarters, and, noticing its variety of food, was appalled; many hotels only served their country's cuisine alone. But she could clearly see some Chinese, Mexican, and European dishes.

She sat down, eager to see what Lei-Lei thought of such food [as she couldn't taste or feel its texture herself], but soon she was approached by a woman, a blonde-haired woman with a nametag clearly labeled 'Molly'. Molly offered that Mei-Ling could have her table as a regular table to Mei-Ling alone, and, insisting that she'd be Mei-Ling's regular waitress, asked what Mei-Ling wished to eat.

Mei-Ling was astounded by this random offer of friendship [as folks in America thought her outfit was very strange], and took it into stride, asking Molly if they could eat together.

So there Mei-Ling and her possibly new friend Molly sat, talking about their respective countries; Mei-Ling felt Molly talked a little too much, but let her continue on. Molly ended up ordering Chinese food, and Mei-Ling ordered American. She had seen hamburgers and the like in China, but these hamburgers were different. Instead of thin patties, they had thick meat, and every aspect of them looked handmade.

Mei-Ling waited patiently for Molly to finish, and then stood up, said her thanks, and left with the burger to her sister's room.

She heard a car screeching to a halt outside, and a door opening.

"Oh," Molly said, incredulous, "It's that one Australian guy—I don't know his name, but I hear he's really big in Australia and Asia… He's been doing a world tour."

Mei-Ling looked towards Molly.  
"What makes him so special?"  
"Apparently, his music was so good; it brought him back from the dead!"  
Mei-Ling knew herself that people could only be resurrected from pure energy; either of holy or dark nature. Though, the fact that he was undead at all made Mei-Ling both disturbed and intrigued. After all, if he was brought back by holy forces, he could be like them; a good ally, with connections.

Mei-Ling sat patiently, waiting for him to come in; what she saw was a metal star [long, untidy hair and all], with a fur-lined jacket and a big guitar case.  
Mei-Ling noticed something very malevolent about his posture, his swagger, and the smug look on his face. No, his overall appearance read as very risky.  
That may be due to him being a rock star, she thought. Mother told her never to judge someone by appearance, after all.

He saw the huge amount of people; mothers bickering with waiters about how their children were actually not making a ruckus, old people wanting orange jam instead of raspberry.  
Young couples talking about what they'd do after the football game; 'possibly a movie' or 'possibly dinner here'.

It was 11:45AM, on a Sunday.  
The rock star had just taken off his coat, and had taken out his guitar.

He spun it twice over his head, before holding it to where the guitar's headstock pointed at the ceiling.  
After strumming a single chord on it, what seemed to be a portal of hellfire opened up beneath his feet; a good amount of his human flesh melted away, to reveal a monster.

People screamed out various terms, like 'Darkstalker' and 'Dark One', everyone scrambling for the one exit, pushing Mei-Ling out of the way.

No; he had done nothing wrong yet, so judgin him was wrong. And that hellfire… Mei-Ling reassured herself that he may have been brought back by an evil lord, but was actually good.

After all, he would have to do something bad for her to judge.

She placed down the plate [for, if she didn't pay attention, she could go immaterial on accident] on a counter next to the exit.  
He continued to strum on the guitar, his tongue lolling out of his mouth [she decided not to question how he managed to have no eyes or facial flesh, but kept his tongue]; he rapidly lowered his hands to the ground.

At this, something yellow and sharp hyperextended form his body, and impaled several people at once.

Molly shoved past the old and weak in an attempt to escape, but Raptor rapidly crossed and uncrossed his arms, causing a white forcefield of pure, malicious, soul-stealing evil. He seemed to look at Molly.  
"So you push 'em outta the way for y'self, is that it?"  
Molly froze; she knew he was talking about her.  
"Well," the undead man continued, "y' seem to deserve preferential treatment. Why don't I take care of y' first? Like I always say, death is inevit'ble; I jus' speed it up f' ya!"

Mei-Ling, who couldn't get past the crowd of people, helplessly stood in horror as Raptor continued to impale people with his yellow ribs. How she wished Lei-Lei could come out in public; she could have saved these poor humans.

With an odd conversion of his waist-down into a spiky tornado, and a skull-shaped electric storm, everyone in the room [save for Mei-Ling] had their souls removed.

Raptor inhaled their souls as if it was air, and, satisfied, he turned towards Mei-Ling, who was still standing. Raptor's victims laid in piles on the ground, and as he ran over towards her, he'd gore or dice them with his ribs as he walked by, getting blood all over his blue skin.

Mei-Ling ran frantically up to her and Lei-Lei's room, holding the door closed behind her.

"I-I saw… one of _them_."


	4. And All The Purity Was Lost

Author's Note: The lack of adult thinking and naivete by Lei-Lei here and there is mainly caused by her being 19, not 300-something. Remember, her and her sister's death was repeating history. Mei-Ling is the wise one due to being the 'mind' to Lei-Lei's 'body'.

----

_I'm dead and lively as usual!_

Raptor had to turn his leg into a buzz saw in order for that door to come down.  
What did she think he was? Some sorta human, who needed a key to open the door?

_Ridiculous._

Ready to kick some weirdly-clothed ass, the door opened. Or rather, it fell, in pieces.

There, scared out of her mind, was the escaping girl in the funny yellow clothes and hat.  
"Oy," Raptor said. "I told y' that I merely speed up th' process of y' inevitable death."  
"Well," the girl said with some newfound confidence, "What happens if you're already dead? Lei-Lei, your turn!"  
She suddenly glowed bright yellow, and, with a small flash, she vanished. In her place was a slip of paper, which lightly planted itself on a certain person.

_Silky hair, cute face, great cleavage, and that same stoic spunk…_

"Lei-Lei! Sweety! How long it's been!"  
He then realized the gravity of what he had done; Le Marta was in the car as well, so he was on his own.  
"Well, f-"

Before he could finish, Lei-Lei had sucker-punched him halfway across the hallway, Raptor's body flung across various walls before finally resting on the ground in front of a room four doors away.  
"Aw, sweetheart," Raptor said. "You don't 'ave to be like that."  
"Who are you?" Lei-Lei had that glow in her eyes that said 'I'm gonna fillet you with my claws'.

Oh, how Raptor liked that.

Raptor struggled to get up; he couldn't possibly hurt his darling little zombie-girl, so he decided to play it casual. Reverting back to his human form, he took out a cigarette.  
"Well, babe, I was giving these blokes a test o' character."  
"By killing them?"  
Raptor froze; that scroll-sister could present herself as a horrible third wheel in his wish to get Lei-Lei.  
"Well… If you ask about tha' one blonde girl who pushed past everyone else for her own selfish needs, I'm sure y' could see things from my perspective."  
Lei-Lei looked like she was in an internal argument, and then nodded.  
"But, you still killed everyone else."

_Damn that scroll-sister, _he thought.

"Come on, Little Lei-Lei. What's the point of even defending those humans? I'm sure that they're more likely to try an' pick up on y' sister than to give y' sympathy."

Lei-Lei was effected by this, he could tell; truth always did that, you know.  
"Well, I… I… come on, Mei-Ling! …I cannot possibly give in to the dark. I don't want to work under any Lord. We're trying to get back at our murdere—what now, sis?"

Raptor smirked. This battle was his, now that he knew what she wanted.  
"Well, Lei-Lei, I 'ave… th' right connections, so t' speak. The people don't think I'm as dark-hearted as I really am, so they'd give me what I want; and what y' want is what I want, Lei-Lei, dearest, sweetest, loveliest Lei-Lei."

Raptor knew he was being completely too light on the flattery, but, you see, he didn't want to scare her off.  
Lei-Lei was very hesitant.  
"I-I don't trust you."  
"Nev' said y' had to."  
Raptor extended his hand.  
"Now, love, whaddya say? I find y' killer, y' give me y' company?"  
Lei-Lei, still hesitant, talked quietly with the scroll on her forehead.  
Though the scroll was slapping her violently across the forehead, Lei-Lei extended her hand, and when Raptor and Lei-Lei shook hands, it felt as if the world had lost all of its remaining purity.  
The scroll-sister, her wise efforts in vain, limply hung onto Lei-Lei's hat.

Raptor knew that Lei-Lei was different from when they had first met [Lei-Lei was looking for her mother's soul way back when, not a murderer], but didn't mind. She still had every aspect of what made her attractive, except he had a better chance, and she seemed less bored and bitter. He was going to praise Le Marta later due to him choosing this hotel as a place to get souls.

"So, d' you and your sister both sit in th' back, or do one of y' want to sit in the front with me…?"


	5. The Felicity House

Author's note: This chapter is slightly depressing, but, don't worry, it'll bounce back into humorous soon. It being so dark is slightly ironic, due to the character having an extended cameo here…  
If you don't get the 'rescue' reference later on, watch episode 1 of the Darkstalkers anime. Then again, watch the entire series, as it is really good.

---

_She wanted to help those who couldn't help themselves._

Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling rode along in Raptor's car; Mei-Ling quietly in the back next to that odd purple thing named Le Malta, Lei-Lei in shotgun. Mei-Ling hadn't talked since Lei-Lei's rash decision to put themselves at risk for the sake of a possible lead, but Lei-Lei and her both knew it was too late to amend that choice; if it was a mistake, they were going to die permanently, and if they left, he'd chase them down and kill them.

Lei-Lei found her choice justified at the time; after all, this 'Raptor' character seemed to like her, and was the best lead they had. She laughed, disturbed by such silence.  
"I wish that we could go to a sketch artist and just get this done and over with. Not many people wear suits of armor these days, right? I mean..."

Raptor chuckled, but Lei-Lei, wishing even a snicker from her sister, sadly looked out of the window of the car. They had come from Henderson, Nevada, and were driving northwest to Las Vegas. Raptor said he had a pal who owed him a favor there, and Lei-Lei felt excited.

Lei-Lei was scared of humans these days; the day before, when they were passing through Winchester, a huge mob had gathered around the car. They began to call Lei-Lei a monster, and threatened to beat the windows in.

Mei-Ling had covered Lei-Lei's eyes when Raptor and Le Malta left the car to deal with them; she once requested that she did not want to see a person dead in real life, so Mei-Ling had to respect her younger twin's wishes.

Lei-Lei heard screams, and when Mei-Ling removed her ethereal hands, the windshield was covered in blood. Raptor wasn't shaken when he entered the car; rather he seemed renewed, almost happy.

From that smug, sadistic smile onward, Lei-Lei regretted the situation she had thrown herself into, and would hear Mei-Ling sobbing in fear of their fate when she, Le Malta, and Raptor were sleeping.

Lei-Lei's fear intensified, since, in their nineteen years of life and life-after-death, the only other occasion she cried was when their parents were killed.

She feared Raptor; Lei-Lei wasn't experienced in fighting [as Mei-Ling had to play by ear in that odd place called the Majigen], and he was formidable in both human and zombie forms.

Lei-Lei and Raptor had pulled past Las Vegas, and pulled into a building with little cat-head-topped columns. It read 'Felicity House' on the banner, in English.

Raptor offered to escort Lei-Lei out of the car; Mei-Ling shoved him away and did so herself. 'Lei-Lei is scared and needs comfort, as she isn't used to traveling and interacting with men other than our now-dead father', Mei-Ling explained.  
Raptor took this into stride, though he seemed to be angry at Mei-Ling; this did nothing but increase both girl's horror, and they wished for some sort of escape.

The orphanage was bright and colorful, and looked like a nunnery. To Lei-Lei's surprise [and Mei-Ling's expectations, as Lei-Lei could tell], a very odd-looking nun was leading children to a bunch of chorus seats.

As Raptor looked around, he looked like he might retch; Lei-Lei concluded it was due to the kindness and purity, and waited patiently for Raptor to present his claim.

Raptor cleared his throat.  
"Hey, pussycat…"

The nun jumped; when she turned around, Lei-Lei noticed she had huge, white paws, and a huge blue tuft of hair sticking out of her nun-cap..  
"Oh, hello. You're the one who saved me from those holy men, right?"  
This shocked Lei-Lei, though she kept her tranquil stoicism; he had saved someone? A nun, of all people? She looked over at her sister with an incredulous look, but Mei-Ling seemed to be thinking intensively over such as well.  
"Righ'," Raptor continued. "A few yea' back."  
"Over twenty, actually."  
"C-Close enough!"  
The woman smiled, and looked at Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling.  
"Oh, did you bring me orphans? They're adorable! It's thoughtful of you, since you live such a long ways away."  
"Nah, nothin' like that. They're tryin' t' find a murderer. Some guy in a weird suit."

The nun's ears seemed to move.  
"…suit?"  
Raptor raised an eyebrow.  
"Yes… a Japanese samurai suit, to be exact…"  
She perked her head up, and took off her cap; she had white cat ears, and a huge expanse of blue hair. She looked quite young, despite having known Raptor two decades earlier.  
"Well, children, all I have to say is that the man you're looking for isn't who I'm thinking of. There was this man named Bishamon who fits that description… but, he sealed away said evil, and lives in peace with his wife. I have no idea where they've gone; nobody does. All I can tell you two is that you should ask him how to seek revenge on your killer."  
Mei-Ling looked invigorated, and Lei-Lei felt the same. They finally had a lead; they could hopefully avenge their parent's death.  
Raptor grinned.  
"Well, me and _my sweetheart_ here are gonna skidaddle. You can keep the yellow one, though, if you want."  
At this, he put his hand on Lei-Lei's shoulder, and Lei-Lei, feeling a big surge of sudden ferocity, grabbed said hand. Raptor seemed overjoyed by this action, but didn't expect Lei-Lei to Spring Hip Judo-throw him onto the ground.

Instead of showing anger, Raptor instead seemed to be cheerful; he had flipped to his zombie form.  
"Alright, 'oney! I thought y' lost y' fire!"  
"Don't call me 'honey'," Lei-Lei insisted.  
"Even better, _'oney_!"  
Angry that he didn't listen, Lei-Lei picked him up and threw him… through a wall.  
She noticed the damage, and gasped, turning to the nun.  
"I-I'm sorry."  
The nun's left ear twitched.  
"We've been meaning to put a door there anyways! No need to worry about it."  
Lei-Lei felt that the cat-nun was lying to make her feel better, but then looked over at where Raptor laid injured, smirking smugly to herself.

She had power over him, all right, though she wasn't sure of what it was; and Mei-Ling understandably nodded to Lei-Lei, finally smiling.


	6. With A Grimm Smile

_I'll be so happy once I kill everything in the world._

After they had left the Felicity House, Raptor, Le Malta, and the twins set out for Bishamon.

Well, really, it was only the latter's goal, as Mei-Ling knew. She knew Raptor was merely using hospitality as an excuse to win Lei-Lei's heart, and throw her away.

For this, Mei-Ling had to be strong for her inwardly insecure sister; it's what their mother would have done.

When it came to fighting, that's what Lei-Lei was needed for. Mei-Ling had a good iota of strength [as she could Judo throw a man like Lei-Lei could], but nowhere near enough to deal with the Darkstalkers, much less a group of boisterous humans.

Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling together were classified as an A-level Darkstalker, as was Raptor. The one who surpassed them was 'some old succubus hag' and 'a vampire with troll hair'. Lei-Lei would often jest that such characters couldn't possibly be considered a real threat, and Mei-Ling would reprimand her, telling her that Raptor foolishly thought he was above everyone else.  
Mei-Ling didn't mind putting Raptor in his place; though was of no strength to do so, he probably knew that Mei-Ling was crucial to his plan of 'restoking my darling Lei-Lei's fire' [whatever that meant].

Mei-Ling and Lei-Lei had been searching through libraries and other resources, hoping to find anything related to the armor or Bishamon; Raptor tagged along due to boredom, flirting with Lei-Lei at any chance he got [as usual].

An assault as they walked by the police station, however, was the last thing Mei-Ling suspected.

Mei-Ling, in scroll form, had seen a shadowy figure lurking behind them, but Lei-Lei was too busy wondering when they could fight to listen.  
Mei-Ling felt some air in her form; it was a bullethole.  
_Wh-What…_

Lei-Lei snapped around, to see a slightly thin figure standing next to a nearby telephone pole. Raptor turned towards the being, and took out his guitar, prepared to turn into a zombie again.  
"I say we kill it."  
"No!," Lei-Lei objected.  
"Why not, sweety?"  
Lei-Lei ignored the petname and pointed.  
"See?"  
Mei-Ling was horrified beyond belief at what she saw.  
"…It's just a little girl, holding a basket," Lei-Lei finished.  
"H-Hello," the girl said, sweet as a button. Her little pet dog followed her, and Le Marta seemed to be speechless, eyeing the teenage girl up and down.

Raptor was shaking his head.  
"Errr… you don't und'stand, sweetcheeks. She's a… a…"  
"…human? Raptor, it is very horrid of you to judge someone based on species."

Le Marta leaped out to embrace the girl, as he was following Raptor's example.

Lei-Lei continued her moralistic bashing; Mei-Ling was trying with all her strength to point out the bullet hole, but Lei-Lei wouldn't listen. She was trying to defend a young girl's life from Raptor via persuasion, albeit her reasons were flawed.  
"And, and, you don't see her hurting anything, do you? You just see butterflies crowding around her, and a dog following her. The girl's harmless, Raptor! _Harmless_!"  
Right in tune with that last word, the sound of five machinegun rounds being fired in quick succession was heard.

As Le Marta fell, Lei-Lei could see he was only slightly injured, but the girl had a smoking Uzi in her hand; to top it all off, the accurate holes in Le Marta's body showed she was a sharpshooter.  
"O-Oh," Lei-Lei said, regretting her naivete again. "O-Oh no, no, no."  
_I tried telling you!_, Mei-Ling scolded. _We musn't lose our trust now. It is the source of our power, sister._

"Yes…", Lei-Lei said in agreement.  
She took out her knives, and began to juggle them, displaying her trademark [but slightly condescending] composure, laughing.  
"Well, little Red Riding Satan, you just so happened to come to a two-on-one; or, in advanced terms, a four-on-one."

Raptor quickly understood what was happening, and opened the hellfire portal, turning into his combat form.  
"Well, I've seen y' before, 'aven't I…? Th' Majigen place. Y' B.B. Hood, the only human with a soul blotted wit' evil enough to be confused f' a Darkstalker!"

"_You shut up!_", B.B. Hood said furiously.

"Just my bloody luck," Raptor said. "Th' Demon Hunter is 'ere, I got chewed out f' no reason, and th' yellow Tweedledum 'as a bullet 'ole in her paper!"  
Lei-Lei looked down in shame.  
"I-I… uhm… I'm… sorry."  
Mei-Ling wished Lei-Lei could see how much of a fool she looked now, but instead concentrated on directing her body.  
_Okay, Lei-Lei. Knife, knife, kick, guard, claw... spiked ball…_

B.B. Hood, the demon child, had still dodged Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling's attempts to incapacitate her.  
"Taste _this_, paycheck-maker!", B.B. Hood squealed, throwing a large series of mines successfully right underneath Lei-Lei.

Lei-Lei was thrown far back, against a wall, and became unconscious due to hitting her head on a pipe. Mei-Ling began to slap her paper body against Lei-Lei's face, but to no avail.  
"…'Ey, yellow Tweedledum!"  
Mei-Ling hated that nickname to no avail [and Raptor knew it], but knew he was talking about her.  
"Change back t' y' regular form, an' take 'er int' th' car."  
Mei-Ling realized her idiocy, and turned back into humanoid form. She hurriedly took Lei-Lei into the back seat with her, and, lying over Lei-Lei, used her now somewhat-physical body as a shield against anything the demon in the red hood could do.

She could clearly hear some things Raptor had said before she had clambered into the car.

She heard the same noise that she had heard a few days ago; the white forcefield of evil, and the incoming soul-ripping move. Mei-Ling heard some very furious shouting from him, albeit she heard mention of Lei-Lei and Le Marta.  
Deep inside, it made her comforted that, should Lei-Lei be incapacitated, that there should be another force to watch over her besides Mei-Ling. For the first time since the incident at the hotel, Mei-Ling thought that Raptor's involvement was indeed necessary to her and Lei-Lei's success.

And although it went against her morals, her vows, her preachings…  
Mei-Ling thought that this horrible little girl deserved its death by the hands of the sadistic Raptor.


	7. First Attack

Author's Note: Sorry if the first real fight of the fic is pretty short. They'll get longer and longer as the fanfic progresses, I promise!

Also, there is a lot of coarse language in here, but, to still give it a T rating, I censored it. Sorry, folks, I'd rather follow rules than have the story deleted…

--

_Rock and roll!_

"You're my dinner ticket," the red-hooded loon exclaimed. "Without your heads mounted on my walls, I have no job…"  
"How is that s'pposed to convince me, y' dumb bitch?"  
"What? You think I _want_ to go to a day job? You think I _want to work for The Man_?"  
"…'Th' Man'? What th' bloody hell are y' talking about?"

"As a musician, you should f**king know!"  
Raptor was slightly shocked; he had met her before, in the Majigen, but this was worse.  
"Whoa! Kid, you're too young t' be sayin' stuff like that!"

"Do I look like I give a sh*t?"

B.B. Hood lifted up her basket; Raptor heard metal clinking against each other.

"Well, now, you seem awfully interested in my basket. Monster, do you want to know what's inside of it?"  
Raptor shrugged.  
"Why not?"

She shook her head in shock, both hands on her cheeks; quite the actress, tears glistened down her face.  
"I'm not that type of girl! You beast!"

The policemen walking by took this comment in the intended way, and took out their guns to aim them at Raptor. She gave a grin that illustrated that everything onwards could be considered 'self-defense', and took out a flamethrower.  
"Now, now! No need to be so straightforward! Girls like mysteriousness…"  
She twirled it in her hands like a professional cheerleader's baton, and when she finished, she had one eye squinting to aim, and both hands to hold it, trigger-finger ready as ever.

When B.B. went to spray out the flame, Raptor naturally dodged to his left; however, B.B. Hood was only faking to go that direction, and sprayed him full-frontal with a torrent of white-hot flames.

Raptor cursed very loudly to himself, and, knowing that Mei-Ling would cooperate with him even less if he killed this girl [he would have to be very secretive about eating souls these past few days, you see, often waiting until they were asleep to eat], so he used Le Malta to portal behind her.

Catching her by surprise, he held a constricting grip on her neck, and thrusted his stomach and chest towards her, his ribs stabbing several non-vital points in her body.

B.B. Hood, who anticipated some damage, didn't scream form the pain, but, rather, since the attack looked inappropriate. The policemen burst into action, hurriedly pulling out their pistols [as if that'd do any harm to Raptor…].  
"DON'T MOVE! DON'T _F***ING_ MOVE!"

Throwing B.B. Hood to the side, Raptor proceeded to impale the policemen; after all, if they blabbered about this misconception, Raptor's career and reputation could be sullied.

B.B. Hood cursed to herself at Raptor's insuring that there'd be no backup help, and then took out an Uzi.  
"Flesh is flesh," B.B Hood said. "I've been so successful before to know how to kill a goddamned zombie. I know how to kill twenty of 'em with one bomb, I should be able to kill _you_ with an Uzi."

At this, she instantly proceeded to shoot a series of rounds at his arm; the fire was so rapid that it actually came off.  
"What th'… bloody 'ell! You're _really_ freakin' pushin' it, kid!"  
_She's just as bad as them ol' holy rollers, isn't she?_, Raptor thought. _No…Holy rollers didn't try to make me look so sinister!_

B.B. Hood now aimed for his head, and Raptor obviously dodged it.  
Picking up his arm, he made it look so that he was trying to run away.  
As expected, B.B. Hood ran after him, and, when he had slowed down, and she was right behind him, he smacked her square across the jaw with his severed arm.  
The effect he wished for was true, and, knocked out, she lay sprawled out on the pavement. Walking towards the car with a sad Le Malta behind him, and his arm held over his shoulder like the secondhand baseball bat it proved to be, he turned back into a human-like form.

"Damn th' goddamn Hunters. And damn empathy to the pit o' Hell where I came back from! If only Mei-Ling couldn't judo-throw me, and influence my sweetheart…"

He walked back to the car, and, opening the door, he saw Mei-Ling lying on top of Lei-Lei.  
"WHOA! HOT DIGGIDY DAMN, WHAT DID I MISS?!"

Mei-Ling visibly flinched at the loud noise, and then scoffed at either his ungratefulness, or the perverted nature of the comment. He couldn't tell.  
"What, would YOU want to be a bullet shield?"

Raptor was grinning widely, and nodding rapidly, he raised his eyebrows a couple of times. Mei –Ling realized what he meant, and punched him in the intact arm; yeah, the scoff was for ungratefulness, but now she was angry for both.  
Lei-Lei woke up, dizzy, and slightly pushing Mei-Ling off of her, saw Raptor's stub.  
"Ohhhhh, my head. Raptor, what happened to your arm?"  
"Th' brat from Hell gunned it off."  
Lei-Lei whispering into Mei-Ling's ear, Mei-Ling cautiously took it from him, and, writing a seal on a sheet of notebook paper [he guessed that desperate times called for desperate measures and resources], she placed his arm back in place, the seal latching onto it.  
Mei-Ling pulled the seal off a minute later, and the arm, while still very numb, worked.

Raptor took Lei-Lei's hand and kissed it.  
"Why, y' so merciful, my loveliest."  
Lei-Lei was thankful her skin was blue, because she would've flushed elsewise.  
"Oh, leave me alone! You'd be useless if one of your arms was out of commission!"

Raptor merely continued grinning to himself as he revved up the car.


	8. Confessions

Author's Note: Woohoo! This is more lighthearted, since the past coupla chapters have been pretty dark. And yes, there are still more chapters after this, don't worry.

---

_You don't mind __**me**__, do you, Raptor?_

Lei-Lei did admit that their travels were a delight this past half of a week; Raptor was always fun to talk to [when he wasn't fake-hitting on her], and for the first time since death, Mei-Ling looked happy. Well, that is, when she wasn't telling Raptor to stop looking at Lei-Lei, and fighting with Le Malta over a view of the front window.

"Nevada has no clues on the cursed armor. I wonder if there's anything for us here," Lei-Lei said. Raptor laughed.

"Of course there is, babe. This is th' city that never sleeps, y'kna. We didn't come all this way t' see Felicia alone! I plan f' us to have some… fun."  
"Felicia? …Oh, the cat nun."

Lei-Lei looked outside of the window, seeing the glittering lights of the city outside of the car. The streetlights would occasionally pass over them, but, besides that, the car was dark on the inside.

"What can you do in Las Vegas that's so popular?"  
Raptor was grinning.  
"I could set up a performance at a hotel. It must be awfully stressin' on you two with this whole murderer business, and I could get my fill o' souls."

Lei-Lei was beaming; after all, rarely in these couple of years did she have a chance to relax.  
"That sounds like a good idea!"  
Mei-Ling sat forward.  
"I disagree. Either B.B. Hood, the humans, or our work will catch up to us and nip us in the butt. We can't slack off."  
"Aww, but yellow Tweedledum, just f' _one night_…"  
Mei-Ling tensed at the nickname, and his pleading, and sighed.  
"Okay, _fine. _But no alcohol or smoking. I won't let Lei-Lei learn from your bad influence!"

"Fine wit' me. Jus' want lovely little Lei-Lei to have fun. Hard for 'er to, due to bein' jus' as dead as I am."

Mei-Ling's resistance was crumbling.

"I'm still uncomfortable with it, and you know it."  
"Call it a date, then."

"_That makes it even worse!_"

When they had pulled up to the hotel, he had already called about performing, so the red carpet was out and fan were on either side.  
"Le Marta, park it, could ya? And I taught y' how t' parallel park, so no funny business and excuses…"  
Le Marta did as ordered, and when the three of them left the car [or, really, Lei-Lei, since Mei-Ling had shyly turned herself into a seal], they were looked at up and down. Mei-Ling wasn't on Lei-Lei's forehead; rather, she was hiding in Lei-Lei's big ribbon.  
Lei-Lei looked up at Raptor.  
"I always wondered; are those red spots blood?"  
Raptor nodded.  
"I've killed a couple o' people in this form too… well, really, a hundred, at once… It sprayed out so far that it went t' my jacket, which was onstage, but in the back of it."

Lei-Lei was very disconcerted, but then regained composure, knowing about that unknown power over him.

In truth, neither Lei-Lei nor Mei-Ling knew why Raptor was so forgiving, tolerant, and giving to Lei-Lei. Maybe, in a past life, she was his master, a kind one.

When they were backstage, and Raptor had taken off his coat, Lei-Lei sat on the very thick [but empty] guitar case.  
"Raptor, who was your master?"

Mei-Ling really wanted to listen, though Lei-Lei's huge yellow ribbon prevented her from seeing or hearing anything.  
"Well," Raptor said, "it was this old, fat hack named Ozomu, and he died. But…"  
He crouched down on his knees, his face at Lei-Lei's level.  
"You, my dearest Lei-Lei… are the master of my heart."  
Raptor leaned over, and, perfectly suave, kissed Lei-Lei on the mouth.

When he got up [as the show was about to start], Lei-Lei was shocked; too shocked to retort. As the lights started to come on, and Raptor became slightly visible to the crowd, Lei-Lei ran onto the stage, and, without Mei-Ling to tell her about the tons of people watching, Lei-Lei picked up Raptor.  
"I… never said…"  
She fully threw him, headfirst, into a wall.  
"…_that you could kiss me_!"  
Raptor's appearance, amazingly, was intact, but he was grinning too much to respond.  
Lei-Lei noticed that the lights had come on when she had said that last statement, and she drew her hat over her face.

"AARRRRGGHHHHHH!"

She ran offstage, covering her face with her sleeves in embarrassment, until the show was over. Mei-Ling finally came out of her hiding spot when Raptor came backstage as a blood-covered zombie, and had turned back into a human.  
"So, since Lei-Lei had some fun, and you had your souls, we should get going, yes?"  
Raptor was blissful, and Lei-Lei looked at her sister in shocked dismay.  
"Wh-What?" Mei-Ling said. "…Oh no, what happened while I was gone? Lei-Lei…"  
"Nothing happened, nothing!" Lei-Lei stood, walking towards the car.

Mei-Ling turned to Raptor.  
"I demand that you told me what happened, this instant."

"I got _lucky,_ is all."

"_NOT TRUE!_" Lei-Lei insisted, and she ran back inside, flailing her arms [but not her claws] on Raptor's chest in anger.  
"Idiot, idiot, idiot! I'm not letting you near me, ever again!"


	9. Seperated Minds

_You pain will soon become ultimate pleasure. I promise!_

A woman had snuck backstage through the rafters; she craved adventure, and could sense it in these three.

Her good rival Dimitri Maximoff [who still had intentions on making her his servant, despite her full power] had destroyed Jedah and his fetus of pure Pandemonium, his horribly flawed plans of a new world.

However, with no figureheads of evil to triumph over, and no new aspects of her body to wonder over, she had dreams. Immortality, for instance; after all, she could only live for four hundred years,

Bored, but optimistic. The second half inside of her had caused this, and she was still unused to its effects.

_**Whaddya think, soul mate?**_**,** a voice said within her. _**Should we check this out?**_

_I believe it would be wise_, she thought. _It may quench our boredom, Sister.  
_

She flew down from the higher set of rafters to a lower one.

_**Oh yeh! Servants, make Momo a pretty black dress.  
**__That is not necessary, Lilith.  
__**You've gotten lazy these past few years! You gotta keep appearances.**_

The woman's clothes altered, forming a small black dress, the type worn to simple dinner or mixer parties.

_**Fancy, eh?**_

The woman who hosted Lilith was silent, and waited anxiously in the rafters until an opportunity to make an entrance could be made.  
The man with oddly tinged skin had just kissed some girl—possibly his lover?—, and she was shocked.

_**Like one of those little soap opera things on Earth!**_

She continued to watch; the supposed lover actually picked the man up, and had thrown him in rage. Yeah, her assumptions were wrong, but she shrugged it off.

_I would have done the same thing if some man did that to me without expecting to give me his soul. Though she's quite… fiery, isn't she?_

_**Is she the remaining third?**__  
No…_  
_**True, she isn't nearly as fashionable, huh, Morrigan?**_  
Morrigan nodded to herself, smiling.

After the tempestuous girl, the rejected man, and another girl who appeared out of nowhere [yes, Morrigan thought, these people _definitely_ were of the magical sort] had left, Morrigan climbed down.

"Hello," Morrigan said. "I was thinking you three would be able to entertain me."  
The man looked incredulous.  
"Y-You! What d' y' think y' doing here, on th' surface? I thought y' became Troll-Hair's _concubine_."  
Morrigan's pleasant smile soured, and she looked at the fiery girl, hoping to see some empathy.  
"Well," the girl said, "we're searching for someone… or something."  
_**Like a body?**_  
_No, Lilith…_  
"What would that happen to be? As a member of a high-ranking family, and since I've been around here for a long time—"  
"She's an' old crone, Lei-Lei, babe. A child-killing monster-thing. She'll eat out your eyes and collect y' teeth!"  
Morrigan had had enough, and her servants switched to her combat form, albeit she didn't have both her sets of bat wings.  
"Wh-Whoa!" Lei-Lei said. "That's a very… small outfit, miss."  
"Well, it's flattering," Morrigan said, her slight vanity showing through; she did admit she thought that her beauty was the best thing since her creation, but didn't think her self-love was _that_ bad.  
"Well, big boy, care to tell me how you know me, and why you could deny a face like this?"  
"Well, let's jus' say I know that when a woman tries to look half 'er age, it's bad news."

Morrigan became downright furious.  
"You know, that's the type of a comment that a man will say… and then I'll kill him."  
The man spun his guitar, and then Lei-Lei protested furiously.  
"No, my turn! You fought B.B. Hood, it's my turn."  
"What?" the other girl said. "You aren't taking this seriously! Raptor, I blame your influence!"

Morrigan calmed down upon hearing his name; Raptor was an undead, a hack. With aspirations of great power, he tried to play the big leagues. But, he failed every time; he had failed against her, he had failed against Dimitri.

_**What an ingrate! Let's serve him on a platter, go to Dimitri's place, and laugh about it! And then beat Demitri up too! Ooh, I'm riled up, now.**_

Morrigan flew over to Lei-Lei, and grabbed her chin in her hands; the girl _was_ cute, and she wondered how Raptor managed to keep such a cutie within fifty yards of him, much less kiss her.  
"In fact, cute-as-a-button blueberry, I'll let you and your boyfriend _both _fight me. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

"Heheh!", Raptor said, though Morrigan didn't know what exactly he was laughing at. Victory was _obviously _Morrigan's, and hopefully this cadaver chump knew what he was going up against.  
"Since you seem to be formidable," the yellow girl said, "that seems even."

"He is not my boyfriend," Lei-Lei said, "and you're making me very angry!"

"Aw," Morrigan said. "I'm not sure if anyone's ever told you this, Lei-Lei… but you look _very cute_ when you're angry… so…"

She moved her arms in a pattern, and servants made her wings visible.  
"…let me see your cutest, and we'll have a one-sided battle of beauty!"


	10. Take Us More Seriously

Explanation: This fight is a two-parter, but the second part will come in a later chapter.

Also, please don't guess further plot details, anyone; it makes things pretty frustrating when they're on the mark, and they spoil future chapters.

Morrigan's foolishness here can be compared to a bad gamer playing her/her getting too cocky.

---

_I want to find… my true body.  
_

Mei-Ling turned herself into a scroll to control Lei-Lei's body during the fight.  
_**Lei-Lei, don't hurt her too badly. I don't want any fatalities.**_

_Sis_, Lei-Lei responded, _I'm not going to go too heavy on her unless if she shows signs to kill._

Mei-Ling directed Lei-Lei to throw some spiky balls at Morrigan; she blocked them.  
"What?" Lei-Lei said. "Are ya playin' with me?"  
_**Don't irritate her, sister.**_  
"I know, Mei-Ling, I know…"  
Lei-Lei hooked a chain to the ceiling, and swirved her razor-topped sleeve around in a circle as she swung back and forth to attack Morrigan. Morrigan, not expecting an attack like such, was slightly gored by it.  
"Wh-What…"  
Lei-Lei began to juggle her knives again, laughing condescendingly.  
"Wow, kicking so much ass has me tired. Raptor, wanna have a turn?"  
"Why not, sweetie?"  
Raptor spun his guitar twice again, and, strumming, the portal of hellfire melted away his humanlike, vulnerable flesh, making him a zombie again. Mei-Ling once again questioned how he managed to keep hair and a tongue, but no organs or facial flesh, but then shoved rationality to the back of her head.  
Morrigan shot a series of fireballs, one of them severely burning the bottom of the scroll [or, really, Mei-Ling's bum, as she could feel pain in this form].

Mei-Ling was very, very ticked off.

_**Lei-Lei, spikes of heaven!**_

"But sis, it's his turn!"  
_**We can ask him!**_  
Lei-Lei hurriedly ran over to Raptor, and, whispering it into his ear, he nodded.  
"I 'ave jus' th' righ' thing t' go with that… you do that firs'…"

Lei-Lei did as both ordered, and, when Morrigan was taken by surprise by the progressing line of huge spikes, Raptor turned himself into a tornado, shocking her with the white soul-stealing lightning.  
Her soul didn't come out, but she looked badly injured, and then Raptor threw her on the ground, trampling on her with his toes as he laughed maniacally.  
"R-Raptor," Lei-Lei interrupted. "She seemed to be only sparring with us… please."

Raptor froze, and he looked at Lei-Lei, skeptical.  
"B-But this wench is the reason I've been down for so long!"

Lei-Lei put on her best display of puppy-dog eyes she could.

"Please, Raptor…"  
_**Oh, Lei-Lei, please…**_  
"..for me…"  
_**You are displaying an awful lot of pathetic traits.**__  
It's to save her life, Mei-Ling. She didn't take us seriously, so I'm letting her off with a warning._  
Raptor, obviously enthralled by an opportunity to ease himself in Lei-Lei's favor, got off of Morrigan. Lei-Lei knelt down to Morrigan, and whispered,  
"Please, miss, we're completely serious. This is a warning, but please don't offer a battle unless if you take us seriously."

Morrigan got up, a good sport, and Mei-Ling turned back into her human form.  
"W-Well… if I'm going to fight with you kids, I'd like a second person to help me. Then it'll be fair, right?"  
"…'ey," Raptor suggested, "Wot about ol' Troll-Hair 'imself?"  
"Oh, no. He'd ruin our fun… how about…"  
Morrigan turned to Mei-Ling, interested.  
"Hey, cutie, can you separate souls?"  
Mei-Ling was taken aback at being addressed.  
"M-Me? Oh… I can't split a soul into half, that'll take too much power, and it'd be unstable…"  
"What if it's two thirds, and both thirds have already been separated before?"  
Mei-Ling thought about this.  
"I'm… not sure. It may work."  
She began to scribble a spell on one of her higher-quality papers.  
"Is there… a name for said sub-soul?"

"Lilith."  
"Right, Lilith…"  
She placed the seal on Morrigan's head, and Lilith exited out of it.  
"Now," Mei-Ling said, satisfied it worked, "you can't be distanced from each other, or Lilith will slowly return to your body. Due to your connection, you should be able to use telepathy. If Lilith gets injured, she will return to your body. So…"  
Mei-Ling linked arms with Lei-Lei, and waved to Morrigan and Lilith.  
"…you can give us a rematch when you take us, our mission, and our _power _more seriously."

When they had left in the car, Raptor was grinning from ear to ear.  
"Oh s' merciful as always, my loveliest, sweetest Lei-Lei. We got through usin' the power of love! Y'kna, I coul' use a bit o' that power myself…"  
"Oh, put a sock in it," Mei-Ling replied. She then noticed her 'mistake', and, fluttering her eyelashes innocently, said, "Oh dear. I happen to have read Lei-Lei's thoughts too much!"

Lei-Lei laughed at this, and Raptor even chuckled a bit too.

Mei-Ling did indeed wonder about this odd bat-woman, her hate-hate relationship to Raptor, and that odd purple-haired being 'Lilith'. Maybe man was not meant to understand certain _things_.  
Would their quest be one of those _things_? Mei-Ling hoped not; their efforts would be in vain if they could not comprehend their killer, or his motives.

But Mei-Ling had hope, and would not let her petty fears get in the way of her mission.


	11. Welcome to the Makai

Random Fact: The fic's length is story-based, not relationship based. So, even if Lei-Lei does finally warm up to Raptor, that won't end the fic; you'll find out her killer, you'll find out what happens in the end. But that's still very far away… and that may not be the end.

Also, I didn't sumbit much today, but tomorrow's an early release day from school, so I'll have more!

---

_My sting won't hurt. It'll just kill ya._

Raptor and Le Marta had 'booked a flight'' to somewhere, though Raptor had made sure to avoid letting Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling know in advance. Raptor's agents were to take care of his car, and Le Marta would accompany them on their 'flight'.  
Raptor's lies were revealed when they had gone down to a broken-down, old subway stop instead of an airplane.  
"I wonder," Lei-Lei said to herself.

"Oh?" Raptor said. "Y' haven' been to th' Iron Horse b'fore?"

Raptor looked at a beaten-down nearby clock, and, a subway train began to pass through.

The subway obviously ignoring this beaten-down stop, it continued.

Raptor then leapt in front of the train.

Adorable, sweet Lei-Lei gave a shriek of some sort, her sleeves covering her mouth, but then silenced; though he secretly wished it was a cry of fear, he knew it was most likely a cry of surprise. The entire area turned pink and purple, the train morphing to a monstrosity featuring eyes and mouths on the sides and front. And they _moved_.

Lei-Lei was looking a little woozy, but Raptor knew she was too strong to faint at something weird-looking.  
Raptor came back up, intact.  
"Y'see, love, something dead dyin' again causes a paradox. That's 'ow this train 'appens… I'm unharmed, and we get a portal to Makai."  
"M-Makai?"  
Raptor was grinning, and Mei-Ling, wishing to protect her sister from such overwhelming dark forces, turned herself into a scroll on Lei-Lei's forehead.

Raptor laughed, and placed his hand on Lei-Lei's waist.  
"Aw, nothin' t' be afraid of, baby. I've been to 'Ell and back, this is nothin'."  
"Raptor…"  
"Yes, love?"  
She looked composed, but slightly uncomfortable.  
"When this train drops us off, your arm better be off of my waist!"  
"Gee," Raptor said. "I don' s'ppose y' ever realized Makai doesn't look exactly like our world, and that, if y' step in a puddle, it's actually a thirty-foot-deep lake…"  
Lei-Lei growled, looking away. Raptor wished her face had the ability to blush, as he had no indication whether she was completely loathing being near him.  
"Okay, _fine_," Lei-Lei said finally, crossing her arms in a cute pout.  
Lei-Lei and Raptor boarded the train, which crossed past a series of horribly clashing colors to a seemingly normal world.  
"I don't see how this is any different," Lei-Lei said quite angrily.

Raptor grinned, and then pointed to some floating, upside-down, and sideways architecture. He even gestured to a castle, which seemed to have a vortex at its center.

"So," Raptor said, "we're gonna go see Troll-Hair, and see if he knows anything about the armor or Bishamon."  
"What's his name? Just in the worst case scenario that he turns out to be formidable, and I want mercy."  
"Dimitri Maxmogg. Dimitri Farfinoff. Hmm…"  
"I-I'll just go with Dimitri…"  
She then saw something hit the windshield, and Lei-Lei shrieked.  
The train stopped due to the fatality, and Lei-Lei went down onto the deck to see what it was.  
"It's a girl!"  
Raptor was incredulous.  
"That hit th' windshield? I'm not so sure…"  
It was Q-Bee, sprawled out, her legs writhing sickly as if she was a roach on its back, one wing fluttering spasmodically.  
"Fffffbbbbzzzzzzz…"  
Lei-Lei helped her up.  
"Come on, your eyes are open…"  
"Those are decoys, love. Th' ones… the ones on 'er 'ead…"  
Q-Bee smelled Lei-Lei, and then flung her stinger at her. Lei-Lei backed up.  
"Hey!"  
Q-Bee simply buzzed, and Raptor seemed to squint, even if he did have skeletal eyesockets.

"Oy, Lei-Lei…. I'll handle this one…"


	12. Beau Geste

Author's Note: Q-Bee's garbled grammar is based off the fact that she _is_ technically an animal-esque creature of limited intelligence, and thus her comprehension isn't expected to be the best. The fact that P-Bees have the intelligence of four or five year olds in canon supports this; therefore, to me, Q-Bee has a wider vocabulary, but only a certain number of grammar processors. She can understand others, but it is hard for her to say such herself.

Also, the Q-bee fight is multi-occurrence/chaptered, like the Morrigan-Lilith to-be-concluded one.

---

_The market value for your soul is based upon its taste!_

Q-Bee looked over at Raptor.  
"I met you. Tried to drink Raptor blood instead of charred soul, but it chunky, of old cow juice."

"O-Oof," Lei-Lei said. "I'm not drinking milk for a _while_. Cow _juice_?! Honestly."

Raptor grabbed his chin, rubbing under his nose with a boney finger.  
"I think she wants our souls, so I think it'd be best t' jus' deal with 'er."

"C-Can't we direct her to someone better? If only B.B. Hood was alive, then we could offer her in place of us…"  
"No," Q-Bee said. "I tasted tiny fraction to Hood soul."  
"Oh?," Lei-Lei asked. "Was it rotten?"  
"Raptor soul smell of burnt cow meat--"

Lei-Lei shook her head, sick.

"Enough cow references already, please, and I was wondering about B.B. Hood's…"  
"It smell… taste… _black as coal. _I could not eat it! It make throat hurt much."

Lei-Lei grew silent at the possible notion that B.B. Hood was worse than Raptor, and Q-Bee began to hover in the air, her wings making a distinct humming noise.

"Now, would you kindly…"  
"N-No," Lei-Lei protested. "W-We've gone too far to—"  
"What?!", Q-Bee said, incredulous. "Undead creatures produce baby?"  
"Well," Raptor said, shrugging, "…'ow did y' think new ones were made?"

Lei-Lei elbowed him angrily. What a way for him to push his luck!

"No. We're looking for my murderer. Now, would you please just leave us alone?"

"Would you kindly…"  
"No!"  
"Would you kindly!"  
Q-Bee took out what seemed to be a beehive, and threw it at Lei-Lei. Lei-Lei shrieked, ducking out of the way.  
"Hey, that was underhanded!"

"Whether what hand I use is nothing when food near, gourmet, and tasty!"  
"…What?"  
Raptor shook his hand.  
"I'll take care o' this one. Y' got t' beat up Morrigan…"  
"Y-You both slash Morgan? Morgan, baby-maker demon? Makai special, three souls, triple tasty?"  
"Uh… yeh," Raptor said.

"Why you not bring? I could save you that time. You not bring three triple tasty souls, I eat yours!"

Q-Bee, quite hungry, leapt towards Lei-Lei, beehive in hand, and threw some bees at Lei-Lei. Raptor blocked them for her, and the bees stung him; noticing that such things wouldn't hurt him, Q-Bee scowled.  
"I want undead blueberry, soul smells clean and fresh!"  
"Blueberry?" Lei-Lei asked, still confused by Q-Bee's vernacular.  
"Soul also smell spicy, like small dash paprika. Very high-class gourmet, enjoy eating!"

"That's 'cause m' sweety 'ere is delic—"  
Lei-Lei punched him upside the face.  
"_No._"

Q-Bee, impatient and confused, jabbed towards Raptor and Lei-Lei with her stinger. Raptor simply blocked the blow like any other, using his forearm, but the stinger impaled through his arm completely, shattering some of the bone inside as she pulled back, smirking. One of her antennae twitched.  
Raptor fell on his knees, gritting his teeth together to avoid showing weakness; Lei-Lei froze, knowing this could possibly be their end.  
Q-Bee went down to attack again, and Raptor was impaled through the chest.  
"Y-Yurgh…"  
Lei-Lei was tearing up.  
"Why won't you hurt her?"  
"She's th' Queen. If I kill 'er, then th' whole hive'll come after us… And I don't know…. Th' meaning… of restrain'."  
He passed out, to recover from his wounds, and as Q-Bee reluctantly bowed her head down to suck out his soul, Lei-Lei swiped her away.  
"No!"  
Lei-Lei then froze; she could have been rid of him, his sexual harassments, and his taunts towards him and her sister. She had clues, and she could find her _own_ way back to the human world to find her killer. But…

She shook this to the back of her mind, not really caring.

Q-Bee took out a full hive of bees, and then began to throw them at Lei-Lei. Lei-Lei didn't kill them, and rather brushed them away as she slashed at Q-Bee with her claws and her chainsaws. Q-Bee wailed, flying backward, and, deciding that she had had enough of this, released a liquid from her stinger, spraying it all over Lei-Lei's sleeves.  
"Wh-What the…? Eew!"  
Q-Bee began to fly away.

"I be back, you die, horrible blueberry!"

Lei-Lei sat there, on the observation deck to the side of the train, repairing Raptor's wounds with a rusty first-aid kit inside the train. The bandages and tape were covered with dust, but she did her best to clean off both.

~*~

Raptor eventually woke up, and he heard this distant humming sound.

He saw Lei-Lei sleeping on a crate, her face pointing in his direction. Noticing his bandages [and thinking that they must've been placed there by a train employee], he ripped them off, happy that Lei-Lei had indeed fended Q-Bee off.

Or, her soul had been sucked out.

Panicking, Raptor shook her shoulder.  
"Oy, oy… sweetcheeks…?"

Lei-Lei woke up, and, as usual, frowned.  
"Whaddya think you're doing? You got stabbed, and all I had to do was slash at her!"  
"WHAT?!"  
Raptor noticed the liquid on her sleeves.  
"O-Oh no. Bloody marvelous…"  
"What?"  
Suddenly, the humming sound grew louder, and Raptor's head snapped around [no, not literally!] to see a dark cloud.  
"Oh, a thunderstorm," Lei-Lei said pleasantly.  
"That isn't thunder," Raptor said, "that's the hive."


	13. Temporary Redemption

_It's time to change the image of Chinese ghosts!_

When Raptor had died, he had sung a rite in his song 'Sacrifice', which killed 100 of his fans; it was a rite to Ozomu, and he had used his music to give sacrifices [hence the song's title]. He remembered the flesh melting off of his fingers when he strummed the final conclusive notes as his guitar lit on fire. His stomach had begun to melt, his organs falling out; as he doubled over in pain, it had fried off his face and eyes.

He had then remembered his whole life; his humble-than-most beginnings in Brisbane, his lack of musical notoriety. He remembered how he had found solace in 'A Chapter of Tolagido'.

Raptor didn't know what took over his heart; he was most likely angry towards his peers who mocked his aspirations of musical fame. Yes, they were why.

Way back, he thought how funny it would be if they saw him becoming such a hit musical star. Only now, he realized that all of that meant nothing; he was just as pathetic as he was in school. He would die by the hands of a swarm of bee-women; he gained his popularity through unfair means. Raptor knew that the only thing that separated him from the lesser-known artists dying in the streets was that book. He had cheated, convinced that uncouth ways meant nothing if he could be like the stars he dreamed of. They lied and cheated too, so why not him?

Raptor remembered everything, all that he had done, all that he had and had not regretted.

He then thought about Lei-Lei; what was so appealing about her? She was a zombie from China, she carried concealed weapons. Before, she had wanted to give her mother's soul redemption, but now she wanted to find a murderer. It wasn't her composure, or her spunk, he realized; she had a real purpose, a need to live.

Raptor was alive due to shunning the afterlife.  
Lei-Lei was alive because she wanted justice.

"Wow," Raptor said. "My life's nev' flashed before my eyes before. I guess this really is th' end, eh? Almos' started regrettin' bein' evil."

He did now regret being evil, though. He would never be able to truly tell Lei-Lei that he _did_ care, and that he would never see her again; not even in the afterlife.

The cloud of certain death drew closer, and Lei-Lei seemed to smile almost mischievously. Raptor was awestruck, albeit in a negative 'why did this happen' way.  
"B-But… what are we t' do, now that we're wanted by a hive of killer bee-women?!"  
"Well…"  
The bees began to swarm the aerial train, and, knowing there was no escape, Raptor exhaled deeply, even if it slightly hurt his not-so-intact lungs.

Meanwhile, Lei-Lei was airing out her sleeves, checking something; she was shifting her weapons from one sleeve to the other, as if planning a huge attack.

"Lei-Lei, y' know an attack woul' be useless in this case. They're comin' from all directions, fer cryin' out loud!"

She seemed to not notice [or hear] his cries of how futile it was.  
"Lei-Lei," Raptor said, "I had…. A lot o' fun. I know this is the end. So, as an undead man about t' die again, could y' grant me one las' wish?"  
"And what would _that_ be, Raptor?"  
"Just a kiss. Peck on the cheek, maybe. I know you're going to Heaven, and since Ozomu can't bring me back, I'll never see you again…"

The flock of P-Bees began to draw closer, their buzzing and constant cries of 'must die' so very irritating, and, calling in reinforcements the size of fifteen other hives.

Q-Bee was standing on the mouthed train whistle, watching her children and sisters clamber over each other in an attempt to kill the one foolish enough to attack their leader.

Raptor saw the quickly approaching bees, and smiled grimly.  
"You know, I hate bees."  
The world swirled in front of him, and the last thing he saw was his clawed feet.

_The world went out in a huge flash of fire the last time I died_, Raptor thought, _so is this…?_

"…'ey, Raptor!"

The loud sound of something flapping past his ears made her have to yell it.  
"Yeh?"

"Abou' that kissh..."  
_Wait,_ he thought, _this isn't Hell if Lei-Lei's 'ere! Hallelujah, I'm not deader than undead. Thank everything above an' below that I'm not dead. Thank you cheating, thank you homicidal rampages!_  
"Y-Yeh?"  
Raptor's eyes rolled out of the back of his head, so he could see; even if they were to die, he wanted to get his promised kiss from Lei-Lei.

However, he wasn't in Hell; or on the train, for that manner.

They were falling; Lei-Lei had grabbed Raptor's hand and jumped off the train, so they were plummeting towards Makai's ground at a speed a skydiver would fear.

Suddenly, their descent slowed to a float, and when Raptor looked up, Lei-Lei was using her free hand to hold onto the empty sleeve, which she used as a parachute.  
The cause for her lisp was her holding Mei-Ling as a slip firmly between her teeth.  
_That's my darling Lei-Lei_, Raptor thought. _She's something to be feared._

Lei-Lei was grinning in good humor.

"I won't die, so you can't kissh me again!"


	14. You Are Both Hiding Something

Author's Note: If you're unused to Mei-Ling being so angry, and wonder why, it's because she still doesn't know about _what happened_ in chapter 8. Since Lei-Lei has intentionally hid it from her sister, Mei-Ling is less than pleased.

---

_My beauty can overcome brains and brawn!_

Dimitri's castle was as huge as Mei-Ling had imagined it; it was similarly dark and menacing. The interior was something to be envied, but Mei-Ling didn't want to gander at the furnishings for too long. They were, after all, intruding.

"_Hey Troll-Hair_!," Raptor called out, as near-suicidal as ever in his irrational thinking.

"Shut up, Raptor," Lei-Lei said. "I don't want him to hear us!"

Mei-Ling waited in anticipation as they looked around the expansive castle for its owner.  
"Oy," Raptor said. "Abou' th' whole saving my life thing—"  
"It was to save mine, I don't like you that way, and I secretly wanted your arm to detach!"  
"_I wanted to say thank you._"  
The two parts of her cheeks where Lei-Lei always blushed turned darker.  
"O-Oh. Oops."

Her sister's exchange with Raptor greatly displeased Mei-Ling; she could certainly sense something behind the words of hostility; some sort of dedication, but Lei-Lei tried to shrug it off. It was there, but she, and even Lei-Lei herself, didn't know exactly what it was.

Mei-Ling just hoped that it wasn't like how her sister had power over Raptor. That force was the vital thing that kept Raptor through Lei-Lei's occasional stupidity, and it was the same force that strengthened when Lei-Lei showed pure genius [as in, 'I'll risk my thousands of dollars in weapons and bite my sister while making a shoddy parachute that somehow works'].

Mei-Ling would notice that, whenever Lei-Lei fell to sleep, Raptor would look at her as if they were married, and it was their honeymoon night. This slightly freaked out Mei-Ling, since, to her knowledge, nothing had happened between them. If he did anything to harm or hypnotize her, oh, how she would _kill_ him.

Mei-Ling pushed managing her sister's love life/disciplining Raptor as if he was a child from her mind.

The castle was endless, and whenever they heard noises or moans, Raptor would explain it was Dimitri's 'slave harem'. Mei-Ling and Lei-Lei had to ask, but after Raptor explained the definition and purpose of such a thing, Mei-Ling was frightened.

Her sister was cute, innocent, and young. As these girls seemed to be of undead or demonic origin, her body being previously dead would probably mean nothing.  
Mei-Ling turned from a scroll into a person, giving her a wider scope of view.  
"Hmmm."

Raptor was confused.  
"Oy, yellow Tweedledum. What's with th' sudden human form?"

"I want to make sure that _nothing_ happens between you two that I don't see. That concert in Las Vegas was aggravating enough; but when we fell, and Lei-Lei bit down on me, she bit down my ears as well as my eyes!"

Raptor shrugged.  
"What can I say? Uhm… I'm sorry that y' can't see every moment of what happens in Lei-Lei's life? You're the one who turned y'self into a paper slip to not be seen by people, and y' hid in Lei-Lei's ribbon."  
"When our parents died, I, as the older twin, took responsibilities of parent and guardian."

Lei-Lei remained silent as this exchange took place, looking around at the statues and architectural finery, but Mei-Ling knew she was just desperately trying to avoid picking sides. Which made no sense to Mei-Ling, as they were bonded by not just blood; they were twin sisters.  
"In fact," Raptor continued, "I don't think y' twin sisters. And not 'cause y' both look different. In fact, yellow Tweedledum, I think you're a 60-year-old woman sayin' she's nineteen!"  
"_Preposterous!_ How dare you be so rude to the one who helps _your little Lei-Lei_ fight!"  
Lei-Lei looked around.  
"Guys, I think I heard somethi—"  
"Hush, Lei-Lei," Mei-Ling said. "And, Raptor, this is a strict BUSINESS relationship! Nothing more! After we find out the murderer, you can go sing yourself to Hell, I don't care!"  
"Yeh… but what about Lei-Lei?"  
"I'm the oldest, I make decisions, Raptor."

Lei-Lei said something, but it was muffled.  
"Oy," Raptor said in all seriousness. "Just because y' were earlier in bein' shot out of y' mother's—"  
"_Don't disrespect the dead, you ass!_ Lei-Lei, let's get out of here… L... Lei-Lei?"  
"Oh, _boy_," Raptor said. "…'One gets captured while the other two are talking'. As if I 'aven't seen that one a bloody lot of times. Bloody 'ell…"

"Lei-Lei?", Mei-Ling called out. "I-I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. Come out!"  
One of Lei-Lei's claws shone in a patch of light.  
"Lei-Lei!"  
Mei-Ling began to run towards her sister, and Raptor held out his hand.  
"Wait! Yellow… Mei-Ling, stop!"

Mei-Ling snapped around.  
"Huh?"  
Raptor used Le Malta to teleport in front of Mei-Ling, taking a vicious claw-blow to the arm.  
"Oy," Raptor said. "That hurt, that one got shot off…"

Mei-Ling was astounded at him being so nice; maybe he was just… chivalrous? She blotted the thought out of her head. Mei-Ling knew from experience that men made such fake promises.

Lei-Lei came into the light, her red eyes glowing, as if…  
"What demon's gotten inside of you?", Mei-Ling asked, mainly to herself.

A woman giggled from the shadows, but Mei-Ling recognized the voice.  
"Ol' hag," Raptor cried out. "You did this."  
"Well," Morrigan said with some triumph, "you were bickering with the yellow one as if she was an in-law, so I figured I'd stop the chitchat. It was awfully distressing. The poor bridesmaid can't choose which…"

Raptor froze.  
"Wh-What're y' talkin' about?"  
"Madam, you are speaking a bunch of poppycock," Mei-Ling said. "I would appreciate it if you would leave Lei-Lei alone."  
"Oh? That's what the mother always says. I've been the 'daughter-in-law' to _oh_ so many men, and they say the exact same thing. It's a pity that there's no line between 'succubus' and 'human' to a mother-in-law. But…"  
Lilith emerged from Lei-Lei's head, exorcising her by her own free will.  
"…I hope you do learn your little lesson. Lilith heard that you both _lose your powers if you lose trust in each other_, and since I want our match to be fun and equal…"

Morrigan got into a fighting stance, and Lilith posed as if she was an action hero.  
"...I do hope that we get to have a fair fight."


	15. Adorability Caused By Rage

[[Author's Note: As you know, the quote on the top of each page correlates the chapter most associated with the chapter. I would have had a Lilith quote one here, but this Lei-Lei one fit the bill. Excuse me for bein' selfish, folks.

Also, no updates yesterday due to business. Sorry.]]

_You might think I'm laid-back, but I've been through Hell!_

Morrigan grabbed her servants, her batwings and skimpy outfit there for all to see.  
Lei-Lei wondered why she did so; after all, shouldn't she have some self-respect? Then she figured that Morrigan must be overheated.  
"Miss Morrigan, do you need some cold water?"  
"…what?"  
Okay, never mind that, then. To see someone dress so provocatively, and on purpose, made Lei-Lei slightly frustrated. The fact that she did so in front of Raptor… did that mean she was intending to seduce him?

_No_, she reassured herself plainly. _They hate each other._  
Lei-Lei then wondered why she would be thinking such things in the first place, and got slightly angry. She exhaled, blowing Mei-Ling's papery form off of her nose.  
"Oh my," Morrigan said. "You seem to be angry, darling. Yes, get angrier! My heart leaps at such hidden fire. Show me, dear, your true adorability!"  
Lei-Lei did not listen to what the tramp had to say, and then, taking out her gong, hit a shockwave. Lilith and Morrigan both dodged, which made Lei-Lei curse to herself.  
"Yes, dear, increase that anger! I must see the face of complete, sympathetic adorability!"

Lei-Lei growled, ignoring this reason, and Raptor, noticing how Morrigan had offended her in some way, leapt towards her with his foot as a chainsaw.  
"Oy," Lilith said, diverting Lei-Lei's odd anger to herself so that Morrigan could fight Raptor fairly, "what made _your_ stomach cramp up? Sheesh."

"...I'm undead," Lei-Lei said.  
"Really? Newsflash to me. I thought that dead creatures weren't supposed to show emotion. In fact, aren't you technically a pogo-corpse?"

"I'm not showing emotion," Lei-Lei said, "I dislike that your other self is so open with her body."  
"We're succubi," Lilith said plainly. "We take men's souls, and we feed on them."  
_Sounds like Q-Bee,_ Lei-Lei thought, _only much more whorish._  
_**Lei-Lei, your emotional responses are off the charts**__!_, Mei-Ling scolded. _**What are you thinking?!**_  
"What do you use to kill them?," Lei-Lei asked.  
"Oh, _you_. You can't possibly be _that_ naïve!"  
Mei-Ling told Lei-Lei via telepathy, and Lei-Lei's face flushed [or, well, thhe sections of her cheeks did].  
"Y-You… But you look like a child!"  
"Some folks like that," Lilith said, "and I'm the type to cater to customers."  
Lei-Lei, revolted and angry all the same, slashed at Lilith with her claws.  
"Whoa, whoa, take it easy!", Lilith said. "You'll get a stomachache if you do that!"  
Lei-Lei looked up at her, filled with rage.  
"What, cat got your tongue? Your eyes're all glossy! Hey, look, Morrigan! This is the true cuteness you searched for, to help teach me! It's so warm and fiery."  
Morrigan blocked a ribstab from Raptor.  
"No… we must further it. It is not yet near its height, its breaking point. We must fill her heart with dark thoughts… we must inspire her hate…"

Lei-Lei understood nothing of what they said, and didn't care for mercy.  
She punched Lilith with her bare hands, not even using weapons.  
"Hey, I can take stabs, but—Ow! OW!"  
Lei-Lei did not listen.

_**Lei-Lei, ignore them…**_, Mei-Ling begged._** Lei-Lei, listen to me! Oh god, I'm losing my grip on you. Lei-Lei, please!**_  
Morrigan sensed the great hostility swelling in Lei-Lei's heart, and, wondering if it would drive her to the breaking point, grabbed Raptor and…

Lei-Lei did not remember what exactly happened afterwards, even much later.

~*~  
"Get offa me!," Raptor said. "I don't want your crusty breath in my lungs, ol' hag!"  
To put it simply, he was very, very embarrassed. Being kissed by someone he didn't care for was bad enough, but Morrigan was someone he hated… and did she really have to do so in front of Lei-Lei?

Raptor was about to have his vengeance against the batgirl, no matter what Lei-Lei or Mei-Ling said; she had ruined everything for him, for the last time.

He felt a hand on his arm that yanked him to the side.  
"Whuh?"  
The hand belonged to Mei-Ling, who had a strong grip besides her poltergeist state.

"_Move!_"  
Raptor was pulled underneath a wing of stairs.  
"What the'… it's so dark in 'ere? Why, for all th'—"  
"_I lost control of Lei-Lei._"  
Raptor then thought about why this would be a bad thing, and shivered; his body was not cold, but the thought of that powerful body out of control was frightening.

"_**I'll tell you what!"**_, Lei-Lei screamed.

Raptor could only see the back of Lei-Lei's head, but Morrigan's face looked blissful and unworried.  
"Yes," Morrigan said. "I sacrificed every ounce of my dignity to see _that face_. See, Lilith…! This is what you must aspire to become, this is your ideal example!"

"Oh…!" Lilith said, awestruck and flushed.

Lei-Lei dropped down a large weight with a face on it onto the ground.  
"Huh? Oy, yell' Tweedledum, what's that?"  
"I… I… _don't know._"  
Lei-Lei shrieked out something, and, her body flashing colors, portals opened from above, and spiked balls poured down onto Lilith and Morrigan from every angle.

Needless to say, they were mauled by Lei-Lei's fit of rage

"I don't know," Mei-Ling said. "I don't know why. Actually, yes. She thought that their attempts to make her jealous would work, but they just offended her tastes."  
"O-Oy…," Raptor said. "D-Do you realize that you can be a real bi*** sometimes?"  
"I got that a lot in school."  
"From friends?"  
"No," Mei-Ling said. "From my ex-boyfriend."

Raptor then realized that this could be considered a touchy subject [he didn't really know], so he remained silent.  
Lei-Lei, exhausted from beating up Morrigan and Lilith, passed out.  
"U-Uggggh…"  
Raptor picked her up, looking around for some place for them to recuperate.  
Mei-Ling picked up Morrigan, and Lilith's body lifted, hovering in a fixed position as it followed Morrigan's unconscious body.

There they stayed for the night, Raptor watching over Lei-Lei as Mei-Ling tended to Morrigan and Lilith's vicious wounds.  
The wreckage from Lei-Lei's spontaneous attack was intense; the spiked balls had frayed the wallpaper, leaving deep, harmful marks inside of the wall planks.

Lei-Lei woke up.

"U-Uggggh…"

She saw Lilith and Morrigan, and their severe cuts and bruises.

"What happened?! Are they alright?"  
Mei-Ling looked up at Lei-Lei gravely.  
"Y—"  
Raptor cut her off, however.  
"I got mad when y' fainted. I showed 'em who was boss, oy."  
"I fainted? From what?"  
Mei-Ling desperately wanted to interrupt, and Raptor shook his head.  
"You… saw something that offended y' taste."  
Lei-Lei thought about this, and it clicked.  
"O-Oh yes! Right."

Raptor just silently looked to the window, watching a flock of bats pass by.


	16. This Century Past

[[Author's Note: If you don't know who this guy is, watch ep1 of the anime! He shows up fairly early.]]

_Protect Lord Dimitri!_

The flock of bats flew overhead, and the man could've sworn that they had an undesirable report. They transformed into a series of papers, which he took into his hands quite effortlessly. Reading them, he sighed; always bad news.  
"It seems, my lord, that a trio of shabby _adventurers_ has caused quite a stir among the Darkstalkers of both worlds…"  
"Oh?", Lord Dimitri said, slightly interested. "Is there anything related to Aensland?"  
"Well," the butler explained, "there's some tidbits about Morrigan related to them…"  
"She consumed or seduced them?"  
"Th-They beat her, quite viciously. Twice."  
Lord Dimitri froze; his face showed no emotion, so the butler couldn't tell if it was anger, interest, or, possibly, fear.  
"The reports," the butler continued, "list them as searching for information. The catwoman Felicia provided them with some of said information, but B.B. Hood seeks their blood."  
"So they're Darkstalkers…"  
His face contorted into a twisted grin.  
"…magnificent. And they beat Morrigan?"

"They beat her with Lilith inside of her, and then when Lilith was separated into a physical form. They have shown mercy in both cases, and are currently healing her wounds in the third bedchamber on the lowest floor."

"Aensland's heir is a fool," Lord Dimitri said, "being beaten so easily. Unless the foe is indeed formidable… what else?"  
"They used what could only be described as cunning to escape a hive of P-Bees— a full _hive_— after rousing the wrath of Q-Bee."  
The butler knew that all the high-ups of Makai had grown slothful, overconfident, and engorged on their power; truly, according to the familiar name on the list, that _had_ to be true.  
"So," Lord Dimitri called to the butler, "what is the name of the man who has gone so far in such little time?"  
The butler was silent.  
"Answer me," Dimitri snarled.  
"L-Lord Raptor," the butler said hesitantly, "alongside a female jiang-shi and her ghost sister."  
There was silence, and then one word could be heard, roared throughout the castle.

"_WHAT!?_"

The butler had been ordered to apprehend the intruders. Surely he was used to the whole 'kill the messenger' scenario, but he still viewed the idea of him cleaning up after Lord Dimitri as foolish. He wish he could just kill Morrigan and be done with it, but something disallowed it; Dimitri seemed to want her to work under him as a slave, due to his hatred of her blood.

"Hello," the butler said, eyeing the four women and one man who sat together; he wondered about their purpose. "My Lord has cordially invited you to… dinner."  
"What?!", the man [presumably Raptor] said. The butler did not know this man in person, but due to Dimitri's descriptions, he was illustrated to be a villainous, homicidal loon, with a penchant for rudeness and crass language.  
"Well, Lord Raptor, it would be of your best interest to come. You are, after all, in Lord Dimitri's castle. We wouldn't want to see any fatalities, now, would we?"

"What's Troll-Hair gonna serve us, blood?"

The butler cringed at such insolence, and shook his head.  
"Lord Dimitri only drinks the blood himself. You would be given wine."  
"Jus' makin' sure. My honey here only gets th' best."  
Of course, the butler was confused; was his lover the blue one or the ghost?  
"I'm sure your Madam would savor our dishes," the butler said vaguely.

As the butler went back to his post in the hopes of some sort of resolution, he reported to Lord Dimitri that they had accepted. If they weren't going to come, it'd be _their_ fault.

_Humans and zombies have no differences_, the butler thought. _These people were just as boorish as when they were alive._

The butler patiently awaited the arrival of his Lord's 'guests', hoping to have a share of the bloodshed. His old bones were so very weak in their age, and he wanted something to rile him up.


	17. Midnight Bliss

[[Author's Note: The POV here is 3rd person omniscient, since we see into each character's head in this chapter]]

_Come on, baby._

Raptor, in his human form due to hating to strain his eyes, walked to Dimitri's main dining hall with Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling [who both carried a succubus, as the Aensland succubi were both still knocked out].

The three of them sat in chairs, with Lei-Lei propping Morrigan onto a chair, and Mei-Ling seating Lilith on Morrigan's lap.

"So," Dimitri said darkly, "you decided to bring me the witch and her lost third. I would thank you, but those of higher class have no need to even _address_ animals. I'm being charitable to talk to you."  
"Oh?," Raptor said. "How's a troll doll like y' a higher class than _me_? I'm wonderin' if there's a gem on y' stomach, too…"

Dimitri got out of his seat, irritated; it was hard to tell, but one could tell the insult stung.

"Listen; give me the succubi, and I'll let you out of my castle alive."  
"Heheheh," Raptor said. "I may not be th' most chivalrous man, or a gentleman overall, but I think not even the batbitch deserves somethin' like that. She's 'ad t' endure a vicious beating twice, and from an inexperienced fighter as well, so I think she's set for her humiliations…"  
Dimitri turned into a black, bat-esque form; he looked enraged.  
"_You cannot tell me what the Aensland family deserves!_"  
Raptor dodged a vicious stab.  
"Whoa!," Raptor replied. "I said _batbitch_, not _Billie_, whatever that dude's name is!"

"_Silence your idiocy!_"

Mei-Ling attached herself to Lei-Lei's forehead, and Lei-Lei shook Morrigan.  
"Hurry, Miss. I forgive you for whatever you did, I don't remember anyways, just—"  
_**No**_, Mei-Ling said, _**it isn't working.**_  
Lei-Lei shook Lilith as well.  
"No response…"

"_The gong!_," Raptor shouted as he blocked an odd spin attack. "_I need backup before the butler joins in too!_"

_**We're both idiots**_, Mei-Ling thought sadly.

Lei-Lei took out her large, intricately patterned gong, and loudly rang on it three times.  
Lilith shivered awake, yawning.  
"Hurry, wake Morrigan up," Lei-Lei said. "We need help."  
Lei-Lei went over towards Dimitri, and, lodging a spike on a chain to the ceiling, passed by Dimitri, swerving her clawed sleeve around in a circle like a flail.

It tore into Dimitri's skin, and he recoiled in surprise; he grinned in dark humor.  
"So, you are so weak on your own that you order your woman to help you? _Pathetic._"  
"No," Raptor said between rib-stab attempts, "I merely want to ensure the job's done."  
After Dimitri punched Lei-Lei into a wall, Lilith and Morrigan both threw fireballs of dark energy at Dimitri in mutual irritation.  
"_Morrigan_," Dimitri said, his anger increasing dramatically, "_I thought you fought fair._"  
"And I thought you were a gentleman. What man hurts an innocent portrait of adorability such as that one…? It would not be wise to test my patience with Lilith here."  
Both Morrigan and Lilith gave piercing, short laughs, and, charged up, both used their batwings to impale Dimitri.  
Dimitri, his rage too large to be contained any more, began to flash colors like Lei-Lei did. Mei-Ling was afraid, as that meant something near-fatal.

He began to walk towards Raptor, a twisted grin on his face.  
Raptor flinched, and his legs froze; he knew what was coming.  
"Oh, no, not _that_. Anything but _THAT!_"

He drifted over and, snapping his fingers, Raptor was turned… _female_.  
Dimitri lifted her… him… whatever it was up into the air, and then proceeded to suck out its blood; She-Raptor had taken out a gun and pointed it at Dimitri's head, but s/he had no time to fire it. She-Raptor lit on fire before turning back into normal, male Raptor, who laid on the floor, drained of both energy and dignity.

Lei-Lei just stared, not really sure _what_ to say, and wondered about the things it intended, especially about Dimitri. Mei-Ling reacted the same way, as did Lilith [though Lilith viewed it more positively, and felt kinda jealous].

The only one who reacted was Morrigan, who uppercutted Dimitri with her wing.  
"You know how to make a woman jealous, Dimitri…"  
Dimitri grinned toothily; his teeth were actually sharp and triangular.  
"Well, I always save the last dance for you."

Lei-Lei sat there dumbly, watching Morrigan and Dimitri fight, and contemplating how odd that love-hate relationship was. She looked over at Lilith, who seemed to be enjoying it herself, and Mei-Ling took herself off of Lei-Lei's head.  
"Come on, Lei-Lei. Let's go. Going here was a goose chase…"

Lei-Lei used the strength of her sleeves to nudge Raptor, who woke up very violently, hacking and wheezing.  
"U-Ugggh."

As Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling wished Lilith goodbye [as Morrigan was occupied], the demon butler appeared to them outside of the dining room.  
Lei-Lei recoiled viciously, almost slashing at him, but held back.

"Just let us go."  
"You see," the butler said, "As you all beat Lord Dimitri, Morrigan or not, I should provide you with _some_ information, to be just."

"Oh!" Mei-Ling was overjoyed. "Thank you!"

"What is it that you're so desperate to find out?"

"We are searching for a cursed armor, formerly worn by Bishamon," Lei-Lei explained.  
"I see… Don't let anyone know, but in some files I reread about him and said armor, the name of its possessor was blurred out intensively, but somewhere in the middle, I could see 'R.R.'. Everything else is history; hurry, before Lord Dimitri finds out."

"Thank you," Mei-Ling said graciously, and the three of them hurried out.

When Morrigan and Lilith had left, their bloodlust satisfied, the butler sent out the bats to report on the three searching for the armor.  
"Such odd beings," the butler remarked, "these former humans…"


	18. Mutual Idea

[[Author's Note: Sorry folks due to not posting anything earlier today. Trust me, I have all of my Monday off planned for you guys! 3 Also, as I use quotes from all games they appear in, this is a quote from Darkstalkers 3/Vampire Savior, from Lei-Lei.]]

_It's so messy here. Time for me to leave!_

Lei-Lei and Raptor sat in a Makai restaurant, considering a means to get out; Mei-Ling sat down next to Lei-Lei, glaring at Raptor.

Mei-Ling leaned over the table, her palms hitting the table fiercely in anger.

"What do you mean, '_I return after someone of huge power dies_'?"

"Well, Troll-Hair hosted a tournament, and I was sent back after he ate Pyron. Then Donovan and that little brat came along the second time around… and I was stuck here."  
He froze, as if remembering something.  
"A-And then, 16 years later, some dude named Jedud or Jaydum or whatever came and said he'd remake the world. I was there, too. I would've eaten up his power, but Troll-Hair beat me to it."

Mei-Ling shook her head disapprovingly [as usual].  
"No. Not good at all. Not only will this hinder our search, but it'll put us at danger…"  
She bit her lip.  
"This is all YOUR fault, Raptor. All we found out was two initials… no, two _letters_ of the culprit's name. And we're… stuck… _here_."

Mei-Ling crossed her arms, pouting in irritation.  
"I'm sure the butler knew more. We could've held him at threat of death!"  
Lei-Lei raised her hand feebly.  
"U-Uhm, sis, not to be rude… but both of us were pretty exhausted…"

Mei-Ling's head craned back.  
"Uggggh. I know. It's just this air is making me so negative."

"Or it's Raptor," Lei-Lei said casually. Both Lei-Lei and Raptor were used to Mei-Ling's intense dislike of him.  
Mei-Ling smirked.  
"Yeah, both are enough to drive any person insane. After our success with that one vampire—"  
"I don't consider it a success, Sis. After all—"

"—we left 'im alive!", Raptor interrupted.  
"I was gonna say 'we had help', but…"  
Mei-Ling sighed.  
"Either way. Since we beat him, we just need to use that as an excuse to get us out of here."

Between attempts to concentrate attacks on certain areas, or an attempt to move their ki to a certain spot, nothing worked.

"So we can't make a reverse paradox?", Lei-Lei asked. "An opposite of what got us here?"

Raptor shook his head.

"I've tried to make myself in my human form. It doesn't work."

Lei-Lei suddenly had an idea; Mei-Ling could tell from the smirk on her face.  
"Well… what if we all work together to kill a tough guy here? That should get us back!"

"Morrigan?" Mei-Ling said.

"Troll-Hair?" Raptor said.

"No," Lei-Lei replied, shaking her head. "Q-Bee, and her hive."

So, after Raptor pleading how suicidal it would be to try and kill a person with a steady supply of reinforcements, Lei-Lei decided on something, though she didn't tell Raptor.

"It's gonna be great," Lei-Lei said, "just you see! You'll be proud of me."

Mei-Ling was afraid— not because of her sister having such an idea, or the high probability of being stuck or killed here— she just wasn't sure if the 'you' referred to herself or Raptor.

~*~

Dimitri sat rather solemnly in his castle, and his butler was flipping through reports again.  
"Huh," the butler said. "It seems they are still alive. My Lord…?"  
"Yes…" Dimitri nodded. "Kill them."

The butler pulled a quill out of thin air, and, writing something on one of the sheets of paper, waited for it to change form. The paper converted into a bat again, only with a scroll on its leg ala a carrier pigeon.

"It is done," the butler said. "Their corpses should be delivered to the castle by tomorrow morning."  
"Tomorrow morning..? They have mocked me, and they have increased Morrigan's power to where enslaving her is almost futile. I want their corpses in as few hours as possible. Have it spread to the inhuman ones with promises of human bodies!"  
The butler nodded, and, using the tip of the quill, made some last-minute changes to the scroll.

"Anything else, my Lord?"

"No. My attitude towards failure is well-installed into their person. They are stuck here, and I will show them what it means to mock someone of higher power!"


	19. Paradox of What?

[[Author's Note: This chapter is brought to you by highly-sugared hot tea, 3-day weekends, and _viewers like you_!

Fun Fact: The story could be called a novella right now due to its length, though we aren't even halfway through!]]

_What?! Go t' hell?! I jus' came back from there!_

Lei-Lei posted up the final sheet of paper with glue; Raptor had not seen the plans or the final project, so he was anxious.  
"It's done!"  
As Raptor examined their billboard ad, which was yet to be revealed, he tilted his head, perplexed.  
"What's th' purpose of this again? An' why are we wearin' this?"

He was gesturing to the brown rags that Lei-Lei had advised them to wear; she had told him to turn to his human form as well, but that confused him too.  
"You'll see! Now…"  
Lei-Lei reached into a bag filled with printed fliers.

"I traded some of my soul—only some dark parts—for a little reptilian guy to pass out the fliers."  
Raptor was alarmed, as was Mei-Ling.  
"Lei-Lei—!"  
"—No, really, we need it. It's worth it."  
As she said this, the bear-sized dragon with a holder on its chest flew up to her. She stuffed the immense ream of papers into its pack, and it flew off, evenly distributing them across Makai.

Raptor caught one in the air, not wanting to be in the dark any longer.  
"Wh-What th--?!"  
As she took off the paneling, the three of them still in peasantry clothes [or two, as Mei-Ling was afraid of heights, and was hiding in Lei-Lei's shirt], it clearly showed a near-photograph of Raptor, Lei-Lei, and Mei-Ling, with 'WANTED' by their names.

"Well," Lei-Lei said, "they say that emotions are powerful enough to change the world. And what emotion is more powerful than hate?"

Thinking that he should've said something in response to that last sentence, Raptor read the flier.

"…'Lord Raptor, Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling; Wanted for bringing dishonor to Makai and the Aensland clan, for crimes, insolences and humiliations against Lord Maximoff, and showing positive emotions'. W-Wow. They're gonna want us deader than undead, oy? W-Wait a second… Why does it list Dimitri's _soul_ as a reward?"  
Lei-Lei pointed to a hand-written, licensed ward on a nearby building clearly listing Raptor, Mei-Ling and Lei-Lei as wanted dead by Dimitri's servants.

"See? If anything, call us 'the marketing and the propaganda'. You should know what that is, you're a rock star!"  
Raptor smirked.

"Sure I do. You're advertising Dimitri's soul— and his seat of nobility— therefore widening it to a larger audience."

Mei-Ling said something [in slip form], but it was muffled due to her location.

"Oy," Raptor said somewhat salaciously, "If she's trapped, I'll stick my hand in there and _get her out."_

Lei-Lei giggled [which surprised Raptor, since he expected a roar and a punch across the face].

"If you do that, I'll repay it by _chopping your hand off and ensuring Mei-Ling doesn't put it back._"

There's the snark! He was waiting for it.  
"Oh… but boy, a severed hand f' that, I think that's _more than a fair deal_, baby."  
Lei-Lei fell silent, and instead watched the folks below.

They seemed to be very excited, and some of them had taken out their weapons. Raptor could even notice some of them forming parties, and could hear some of their plans after they got the bounty. Raptor knew that, even if they were to be killed, Dimitri would still find a way out of giving up his soul; therefore, the hopes and aspirations of these people were almost sad in their futility.

Lei-Lei [and Raptor, who was following] had jumped from rooftops into an alleyway. There Lei-Lei somehow revealed her regular outfit beneath it [which made Raptor both confused and frustrated; not only did he want to sneak a peek, but how exactly did her sleeves and equipment compact so much?].

Raptor changed into his undead form, and, offering to take Lei-Lei's hand, he noticed that she shook her head quite resolutely; she was silent, though, and Raptor felt disquiet.  
"U-Uhm…", he said, "what're we gonna do once we get out there? There're gonna be folks from all angles; left, right, above AND below. I-I think we're gonna be stuck in this one…"  
Lei-Lei was still silent, still very disturbed by something, and Raptor saw the crowd out of the corner of his eye.

They walked into the open, and Raptor gave a very obviously fake doubletake of 'oh no, they're after us!'. Of course, the folks of Makai weren't the _sharpest_ teeth in the mouth, so naturally it took them a minute or two to pick up that their meal ticket was right in front of them.

"Look, it's the falling-apart corpse!"  
"The zombie wench is there too!"  
Raptor squinted; he wish he could take on all of these people, and kill them for such insults, but even _he_ knew his limits. Raptor and Lei-Lei began to run from the crowd, which, he noticed, grew larger and larger with every street they passed; even the old, wrangly man from the Iron Horse train was there, intending to use his pipe as a small, blunt object.

When they were halfway through the city, it could be considered a parade.

"No-no-no-no," Raptor kept on saying, the words chiming in tune to his fast pace. Lei-Lei was started to heave from physical strain; he couldn't possibly leave her behind, so he thought of the only possible solution.  
Flipping back into his human form [which had more muscle but less dark powers and elasticity to attack with], he hurriedly picked Lei-Lei up into his arms as he increased his pace, his confidence renewed due to him being in his more athletic form.  
Lei-Lei looked shocked, and, exhausted, she fell asleep, holding her hat over her stomach.

Morrigan, who was watching the spectacle with Lilith, stood, drying her wings in the sun.  
"I think we should leave them alone for a small while."  
"Aww," Lilith said. "I want to see _everything_!"  
"Now, now," Morrigan said, as if scolding a child or younger sibling, "you must leave a couple like that alone. They have to… to…"  
Lilith said something inappropriate for even a teen audience to hear, and Morrigan shook her head.  
"No, no. I meant… get over the roadbumps. To resolve things. To communicate."  
"To find out fetishes?"  
"No, Lilith."

When Lei-Lei had finally felt safe, and had fallen asleep, a portal opened, and Raptor, amazed, ran through it. It took them to that same subway, and just as the lead of the parade was about to run out and maul them, the vortex of paradox closed.  
Raptor sat down, resting his back on the railing, Lei-Lei [and her secured hat and weapons] still in his arms. His head bowed down as he gratefully melted into a deep [and much-needed] slumber.


	20. Hunger

[[Author's Note: Chapter 20 concludes the second/'Makai' arc [out of five overall]! We're almost halfway through this, folks! ^_^

There are a couple references here to Pocket Fighter, specifically Lei-Lei's flash combos.

The 'Father's Griddle' is a play on a real Chinatown restaurant in Las Vegas called 'Mother's Grill'. There are references to both Kill Bill and Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro in one scene, as well as others to Blue Man Group and Willy Wonka.]]

_You cannot. How can you do what cannot be done?_

When Lei-Lei awoke, she was shocked; not because of her current position, but, rather, the fact that she _enjoyed_ said current position.

She tried going back to sleep, in hopes of this being just another odd dream she'd been having these past couple of days, and bowed her head down to drift off to sleep.

Raptor grunted, and, after looking at Lei-Lei nudged her.  
Lei-Lei faked being asleep for a few seconds before waking up.  
"Nnnn…"  
"Come on. We gotta go t' the agents. We're at the same place…"  
He got up, still carrying her, and then went up the stairs to see the skyline.  
"Things look… different," Lei-Lei pointed out. "Look… that building wasn't there before."  
"That's because we've spent one day in Makai. That counts as a year in the regular world."  
"Oh, like in 'Urashima Taro', where he was supposedly gone in the Dragon Kingdom for three years, but was actually gone for three hundred. He rode there on a turtle, which told him not to open up a box or else he could never return. He opened the box, and the weight of his real age fell upon him and killed him."  
"Yeh."

Lei-Lei was then puzzled by this.  
"So does this mean that you're my turtle?"  
"No. I'd take y' back even if you were a pile o' dust."  
Lei-Lei flushed, and then she piped up.  
"Do you have any money on you? I'm starving… I didn't eat anything in Makai, due to those myths about the whole 'once you eat something you can never return'…"

"All th' money in the world, babe. Y'really are hungry, eh?"  
Lei-Lei thought about this.

"I'm a hungry ghost, eh? I don't eat souls, though…"  
Raptor shrugged.  
"My body would fall apart if I ate only souls. I need a _varied diet_, you know."  
Lei-Lei grinned.  
"Hahahah. Call me a vegetarian, then, since I don't eat souls by choice."

"Alright then. Every place— well, nearly every place— here serves your definition of 'vegetarian', so we're okay. So, I can take y' out to dinner?"  
"Sure," Lei-Lei said. "You can call it that. You're paying!"

"I wouldn't expect a blue girl and a ghost t' have much money. Speakin' of… Where's y' sister?"

Lei-Lei fell silent, uncomfortable again.  
"In my shirt. Sh-She's conserving energy."  
Instead of looking down her cleavage-circle [and wondering where Mei-Ling was in there], he simply looked at the skyline.  
"What type of place d' ya want t' go t'?"  
Lei-Lei thought about this for a while.  
"Well, I once went vacationing in Osaka, Japan with my parents. I'd like to go to an okonomiyaki place, and hopefully they'll have fried rice…"  
Raptor was grinning very smugly.  
"Oh, sweetheart. There's no boring moment with you, is there?"  
"Th-Thanks…"  
Lei-Lei's head began to hurt slightly, and she found a map of their location in Las Vegas.

"Okay. I hope people won't recognize me as a kyonshi, though."  
"Eh, you're with me," Raptor said, taking out a pack of bent, misshapen cigarettes and placing one in his mouth. "Want one? …nah, I'm kiddin', yellow Tweedledum would kill me if I were any worse of an influence t' ya."

They had picked out a place in Las Vegas' Chinatown labeled 'Father's Griddle'. Raptor didn't know Chinese, but Lei-Lei offered to translate the menu for him.

When they had arrived at the medium-sized restaurant, the place was deserted save for two people.

"Hey," Lei-Lei said suddenly to break the silence, "what's wrong?"

There was a boy and girl behind the counter of the hot griddle; both looked to be fifteen or sixteen.

The girl was carrying around a small headless doll with her, reading a book, and Lei-Lei could hear them mumbling.

"The M-Mistress in Red is coming here. I'm scared for my life…", the boy said, cleaning a beer mug with a slightly old rag.

"They're that kind, Cecil," the girl remarked, squinting at Raptor and Lei-Lei with a fixed glare. "All three of them. They're Dark Ones."  
"I-It's _her_, Anita," Cecil said weakly with some shock. "I-I…"  
He tidied his hair, trying to look like a gentleman, and put on a look of stoicism.

Lei-Lei, carefree, took the menu and showed it to Raptor.  
"This means yakisoba," she began, "and this is steamed buns…"

After they had ordered their food, Raptor contently ate a single tray of korean barbeque, while Lei-Lei had spades of used okonomiyaki plates, trays devoid of yakisoba, and bowls that formerly housed miso soup and steamed crab rice surrounding her like trophies. As the place was low-priced, and he had more money than he could really use, Raptor didn't mind her ravenous appetite at all.

"You know, sir," Cecil remarked, "aren't you that one metal star?"  
"Yeh."  
Cecil took out a camera.  
"If y-you wouldn't mind, sir, it'd be a big help to the folks who own this place. It'd increase their fame."

Raptor shrugged.  
"Make it into a paper if ya want. Be sure to 'ave Lei-Lei here in it, oy."

"I read about her in the papers," Cecil said, taking out a magazine written in Japanese. It showed Lei-Lei shown in some old photographs of ghost sightings, one of them of her sharpening her knives, another of Mei-Ling straightening out Lei-Lei's clothes, and yet another of her appearing on the red carpet behind Raptor in the Las Vegas show that happened a year ago. There were some theories that Lei-Lei could read on there, from wondering if she was a female member of the Blue Man Group, with the feature on her going all the way to guessing her ethnicity.

"Ohhhhh," Lei-Lei said, leaning over , "this is so embarrassing… They're calling me Violet Beauregard. Do I look like I chew gum…?"

"I-I'm sorry, Miss," Cecil continued. "I hope I didn't make you sad."  
Raptor looked at the magazine, and then noticed something.  
"What th'—"

Cecil looked shocked, and tried to take the magazine with him.  
"P-P-Please Mister—"  
Behind the featured article was a lot more texts and clippings from other articles describing Lei-Lei, and a folder's worth of pictures.

Lei-Lei didn't notice this huge shrine to her from a teenage boy, thankfully, and Mei-Ling was still hibernating.

"M-Mister," Cecil said, embarrassed, "I-I'm sorry if I offended you by liking your sister…"

Anita actually smiled, somewhat liking to see her friend being thrown under the bus in such a manner. Raptor looked at Lei-Lei, who was eating a tray of king crab and lobster with garlic butter, and was eating tons of steamed buns.

"Oy," Raptor said to Cecil quietly. "Would y' mind if you were t' tell me where the picture-people are at?"  
"A-Are y' gonna ruin the source…?"  
"No," Raptor said. "I'm gonna come out an' say it. I should be proud of my little Lei-Lei…"

Suddenly, the red-caped horror entered the door, dog in tow.

"You!"

Anita looked very uncomfortable, and crossed her legs.

"Hey, you, creepy girl!", B. B. Hood said. "You work here, right?"  
Cecil raised his hand.  
"M-Miss, we're only stand-ins while the owner is sick. We travel…"  
"Either way! The last one I had here was burnt. I expect some for free."  
"Well, one, I can understand, but not—"  
She pointed an uzi at Cecil's head.  
"I _said_," B.B. Hood growled, "that I want more than one okonomiyaki, Pizza Hut-size, with all toppings of highest quality."  
Cecil froze, his mouth slightly open in terror.  
"M-Miss… Anita…"

B.B. Hood froze; a hand was on her shoulder.  
"What the..."  
Raptor punched her upside the head.  
"Y' little vicious motherf***er. Have y' no mercy f' children?"  
B.B. Hood faked crying.  
"You horrible man! _I'm being violated…_"

Raptor recoiled.  
"What?!"

B.B. Hood, grinning, aimed to point a gun at his face.  
"You interfere with my food, you'll be dead under guise of sexual harassment! You're a rock star. They'll never believe you."  
"Go ahead," Raptor said. "I'm not afraid."

B.B. Hood stoically shot a few rounds through Raptor's skull, and, to both Cecil and B.B. Hood's surprise [but not Anita's], the holes stayed, eventually closing up as if nothing had happened..  
"How can y' kill a dead man?"

B.B. Hood looked scared, but then it contorted into a twisted grin.  
"Oho! I recognize that voice. 'God of Metal' my _a**_!"

Raptor turned into his other form, and Cecil watched in amazement.  
"Whooooaaaaa."

Anita stood, watching in what seemed to be interest.

B.B. Hood saw Lei-Lei surrounded by the bowls, and shot in said direction.  
Lei-Lei dodged out of the way with a tray of yakisoba, and, after slurping up the last noodle, placed the tray on the table with a loud 'thwack'.

"Alright!," Lei-Lei said. "I'm full now!"  
She stood, turning to face B.B. Hood.  
"It's very bad that I just saw you threaten a child. Hurting my partner doesn't make your situation better…"  
She stuck her hand down her shirt, which made Cecil gawk.  
"U-Uhm.."

Raptor knotted his hands together, hearts practically shooting out of his eyes.  
"Eheheheheh…"

Lei-Lei shook the small paper form of her sister, waking her up.

"You'll regret messing with the already dead!"

[[Author's Note: Just wondering; how is it that Raptor was born in 1889, and died in [presumably] his late twenties/early thirties [basically, the 1920s], when metal in Australia didn't even arise until the 1970s? That, and the anime shows that he still has a career… eighty years later…

…You know what? Be it from the fact that he can turn his legs into buzz saws and tornadoes, the fact he has hair and a tongue but no eyes/face, and that hearts fly out of his eyes though he [like said] has no eyes, I think it's safe to assume that Raptor _just doesn't make any freaking sense._]]


	21. Parental Figures

[[Author's Note: Knight25, stop it. I already told you not to guess future plotlines! XD  
And, as a sidenote, most of Cecil's character is inferred from his relationship with the Huitzil/my assumption of his character. For being the most powerful person on Earth and possibly Makai [if you discount Anita's potential], he gets relatively small screentime. Hell, at least Anita has a fanbase!

Also, about the whole 'time wtf' concerning Raptor; let's just assume metal was invented in the Victorian Era.]]

_TARGET ELIMINATED._

The paper turned into a human form for a second, made a sign with its hands, and then turned back into a slip of paper, resting on the pretty blue girl's forehead.  
"Wow," Cecil said with increased interest as he walked over towards Anita, taking off his work-apron.  
"Real Darkstalkers…! Isn't this _cool_, Anita?"  
"I have met their kind before," Anita said casually, drinking from a cup of green tea. "The girl is of pure nature, but the man… I'm not sure about him…"  
"Grey morality, eh?"  
The horror in red took out a AK-47, and aimed it in the general direction of the two teenagers.  
"Would you two just _shut up_? You're ruining my concentration."  
Raptor became visibly enraged at this, but he didn't want to provoke her to shoot them.  
"A-Ah…"  
Anita raised an eyebrow, drinking her tea coyly.  
"I find it increasingly depressing that one of our age has such a homicidal view towards her peers and upperclassmen."  
The girl, her eyes watering in anger at such a simple statement, shot a few rounds in their direction, intending to pierce Anita right between the eyes. Cecil remembered his mission of protecting Anita for the sake of mankind, and jumped out in front of the bullet-path, covering her.  
Thankfully, Anita had made a psychic shield, which deflected said bullets, and Cecil got off of her, embarrassed; he always _was _bad at looking like a gentleman.  
"U-Uhm… Sorry."  
Anita said nothing, simply dusting off her little purple dress.  
As Raptor was about to viciously hit the girl upside the head, as did the blue girl, the part of the wall that had planks over it gave violently, and there was one of Cecil's 'friends'.  
"Wh-What th'?", Raptor said incredulously.  
At first there was one huge robot, but as Raptor looked around, the windows were completely covered in yellow forms; they began to chant.

"_SAVE THE BOY. SAVE . ELIMINATE… ALL… THREATS TO BOTH."_

Cecil hurriedly went to one of the units, and opening up a latch inside, he began to type in some new files.  
"NEW ORDERS: AND ADDED TO ''. HAS BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE . UPDATING ALL MODELS. Updating 1 out of 189,504,929 models… Updating 2 out of 189,504,929 models…"

This edited one continued to convert the others, and all of the robots stayed still.

Raptor used this lull as an opportunity to stab the girl in red with his ribs, and she wailed in pain.  
"You…!"  
"I have n' mercy t' children if they're vicious l'il brats!"

"UPDATE COMPLETE."

Their heads whirred around, moving towards B.B. Hood.

"TERMINATE. LIQUIDATE. ERADICATE. UNDER ORDERS OF THE BOY…"

The girl in red shrieked and looked for a possible exit. She managed to run away through a backdoor exit, and the robots chased her.  
"Good riddance," the blue girl said. "I hope she dies!"  
"Me too," her paper said, turning into a human form; this statement shocked the blue girl, though.  
Raptor watched with amazement as the Huitzil flew away to go into semi-hibernation.  
"Y-Y' have quite th' army there, kid."  
Cecil grinned.  
"Every little boy dreams of having his own pet robot. I have a _fleet_! Though I had to program them to not… wipe out existence."  
Raptor grinned complacently.  
"I admit, aft' motion pictures first came out, they 'ad a few about robots. Back then, they were made outta cardboard and tin foil."  
Cecil's jaw dropped.  
" How old _are _you?!"  
"I was born in '89, dude. "  
"Sounds more like **18**89 to me…"  
"That's what I meant."  
Cecil was freaked out, understandably.  
"H-How old is the blue girl?"  
"Lei-Lei? She's… nineteen."  
"Mister, no offense, but I think you're a dirty old man. You hang out with the paper-girl, who looks to be the same age. And they both look seventeen, while you're exactly a century older than they are!"

Raptor grinned, to Cecil's surprise.  
"Boy, am I proud of it! I have th' devil's luck, I found 'er and 'er ghost sister at an inn. Well, we should get going. Le Malta planned a world tour, so we can get more sources…"

Lei-Lei and her ghost sister nodded, and they all began to walk away, leaving the large amount of food money on the table.  
"W-Wait," Cecil insisted, running after them. "You see… Anita is destined to be the future savior of mankind."  
"Yeh," Raptor said. "That bloke Donovan said so once."  
"Donovan," Anita said suddenly, "is not... my 'father' anymore. He gave in to the dark, and…"  
She began to cry, and Cecil went over to comfort her.  
The five of them were silent, and Lei-Lei's eyes were watering, as if she had been in a similar situation.  
"Well," Lei-Lei said, "we can act as surrogate parents, right?"  
Raptor froze suddenly.  
"Wh-What?"  
"They're a couple of poor children who have nobody, save for a bunch of robots, to help them. They need a real set of parental figures. They need _us._ Raptor…"  
"B-But I'm no good with kids."  
"Please…"  
Lei-Lei was choking up. Raptor, who looked hurt by such, sighed with heavy reluctance.  
"Well, as long as if no robots come t' attack _me_, and if they can help with our search to find that armor… An' if nither of 'em thinks I'm their father, then I'm cool."  
Cecil smiled, and held out his hand to help Anita down from her perch on the cabinet.  
"See, Anita? We'll be safe from D. Even if we _are_ being provided for by a couple of zombies and a ghost…"  
"No," Anita said, picking up her book and doll. "They're… our new guardians, we must treat them with respect."  
[[Author's Endnote: As you don't really 'describe' in fanfic, Teen!Cecil is supposed to have his usual hairstyle, but dresses in an oversized white business shirt/black pants, to relate to how he has a mind a lot like a kid, but the body of a near-adult [and that he basically lives off of part-time jobs, and can't afford much clothes-money]. I also imagined him to wear a Mayan waistwrap, as the Darkstalkers folks all have some evidence of their culture [Anakaris definitely, and Raptor has the union jack on his pants] in their clothing. Teen!Anita looks like her incarnation in Dee's ending in Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection.]]


	22. Being a Gentleman

_You have the eye of a dark one._

The public liked the idea of this man—Raptor— going around the world to sing and play guitar. He had scheduled flights to Canada, South America, Africa, an extended stay in England, an extended stay in Asia, and, finally, Australia.

Though he didn't remember her, she remembered him in her younger days; he was a homicidal maniac with a sense of chivalry, and a complete paradox on the notions of morality and death. Their final stop being Australia was due to it being his homeland; was Lei-Lei's final stop to be China?

As Anita watched their interactions with increased interest, the girly part of her wished otherwise. She would not seem weak [her crying in the Father's Griddle was an intense embarrassment], but she disliked bad endings in romance stories, so she treated her surrogate parents' relationship as one.

Lei-Lei often told Anita and Cecil her stories; she was a Chinese vampire, but didn't eat souls. She, her sister, and their parents had been murdered the day after the sisters came out of a coma. Lei-Lei insisted that she and Raptor were 'business partners', and that they were merely searching for their murderer. Cecil didn't like hearing 'mushy girl stuff', so he kept out of it.

But Anita heard about every small detail, every tidbit. She learned about 'what angered Lei-Lei' at the Las Vegas showcase, their travels in Makai, and Lei-Lei's times of ingenuity.

In the jet, she and Cecil would sleep on the little chairs; Lei-Lei often sacrificed her own comfort for the two of them, even making a bed for Anita's doll. Whether it was a similar feeling of loneliness or maternal instinct, Anita could not tell.

Both Anita and Lei-Lei had one friend who would always listen to them; Lei-Lei had her sister, Anita had her doll. Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling were orphans, and only slightly older than Anita and Cecil.  
Lei-Lei and Anita both had a male companion; Lei-Lei and Raptor were obviously very attached to each other, and Cecil was Anita's self-declared protector, though Anita didn't really need him.

Anita stayed with Cecil due to his kindness, bravery, and tender heart; he filled that void of loneliness and insecurity that was rendered larger by Donovan becoming 'D', and he didn't think of her as a witch.

In fact, he though Anita's power was special and something to be respected.

Anita shoved such things to the back of her mind, as they didn't really matter in this time.

Anita hadn't felt love for a person since her mother had passed away, and Donovan turned evil. Lei-Lei was quite possibly the only other mother in Anita's life, so she treated Lei-Lei with due respect.  
Raptor was overall nice to her, as he seemed to sense her power, and Lei-Lei's attachment to her.

Lei-Lei tucked Anita into her bed, and then Anita looked up at Lei-Lei.  
"Where do you sleep?"  
Lei-Lei flushed, and her voice became a whisper.  
"I-I have to share a bed…"  
Anita's eyes widened.  
"O-Oh, I'm sorry. Uhm…"  
"No, it's not like that! There just aren't any other beds…"  
"I'll share mine with you, since there's room."  
"No, really," Lei-Lei insisted, "I'm fine."

Anita smiled to herself [but didn't show it] as she slowly became unconscious.

Lei-Lei was uncomfortable, to say the least. When she went to the bed, Raptor was sitting against a wall.  
"Wh-What are you doing?," Lei-Lei said. "You're gonna kill your back…"  
"Manners, really. I wouldn't be a gentleman if I were t' do such a thing, oy?"  
"Raptor, you… argh! I won't look bad by having the bed!"  
She sat next to him, and Raptor flushed.  
"U-Uh… L-Lei-Lei…"  
Lei-Lei yawned and rested her head on his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.  
"I'm tired…"  
Raptor was speechless, and didn't move; he simply drifted off to sleep.

Anita woke from her sleep late into the night, her throat dry. She wanted to ask Cecil where the water was, but he was so deep into sleep that he was tossing and turning, so she walked around the jet. She accidentally entered the bedroom, and, seeing Raptor and Lei-Lei, she smiled.  
She finally found a miniature fridge, and pushed away the beer to get herself a bottle of water.

Lying back down, she looked at her little headless doll, and smiled.  
"Goodnight…"  
She closed her eyes as she finally went back to sleep.

[[Author's Endnote: The 'coma' that Lei-Lei refers to is the event when Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling went to the Majigen in Darkstalkers 3, and their souls 'just left their bodies, putting them in a coma'. ]]


	23. A Mari Usque Ad Mare

[[Author's Note: HAH! Bet y'all were expecting something steamy last chapter, what with the 'I share a bed with him' line! Heheh, I'm such a tease.

Thanks to Knight25 again for being so dedicated as to put up with my insanity for this past… week. Wow, I really do post a lot, huh?]]

_I'm the eighth wonder of the world, baby! Love it!_

"Oh, ffffff. It couldn't possibly be _that_ cold."

That is what Cecil had said, and, as Lei-Lei could tell, he had begun to regret it.  
"_It's so cold!,_" he shouted over the blizzard winds. "_Why are we in the Rockies anyways?!_"  
"Inf'mation," Raptor said casually. "You and Anita are sharing that bulky coat o' mine… An' Mei-Ling is using warming spells t' keep y' core temperature from going down…"

Raptor was walking around shirtless in approximately -30 degrees Celsius blizzard weather; even Lei-Lei was shivering a bit, and wrapping her sleeves around her.

"Brrrr… Aren't you the least bit cold?!"

Raptor sidled over to her.  
"Hnnhnnhnn… what is it, _love_? Too used t' th' warmth o' my body?"

Cecil's jaw dropped.  
"_WHAT!_"  
Anita shook her head in some sort of hidden knowledge, and Cecil was stomping his foot in what seemed to be jealousy.

"Dirty old man!"  
Lei-Lei blushed in what could be considered embarrassment; he had rephrased what had happened last night into something lewd. But, she knew he was actually a kind, chivalrous gentleman at heart, and—

_AGH!_, she thought. _Stupid, stupid thoughts._

Lei-Lei stayed silent, not responding to his comment with anything but her blush and a shiver. He wrapped his arm around her, and Lei-Lei marveled at how warm it was. She gave out a squeak, which surprised both Raptor and herself, and Raptor took his arm off her. Her shoulders drooped in what seemed to be sadness, so Raptor did so again, except very slowly.  
Lei-Lei closed her eyes, letting herself be somewhat dragged towards their eventual location, listening to the creak of the little crate-holding dolly he was also dragging around.  
_He's so warm…Maybe it's the hellfire._

They had finally reached what seemed to be a village for people who lived in this region, past an intensely blizzardous region which practically blew Cecil and Anita into the air [they had to hold onto Lei-Lei's sleeves, and used the jacket as a parachute, ala hang gliding]. Lei-Lei noticed they were all wearing very voluminous white coats.  
"Oh! The people here must know something," Lei-Lei said.  
Raptor didn't respond, and, indicating to Lei-Lei that he had to let go of her, proceeded to open up the crate.  
"_Bananas_," he shouted out. "_Seeking information_."  
At this, a series of the men turned around, and, to Lei-Lei's surprise, they weren't wearing coats at all.

_Th-They're yetis._

Lei-Lei tightened her newfound grip on Raptor's waist [he was much taller than her when she was crouching to conserve warmth], and raptor flinched, his face flushed.  
"Bigfoot, we were wondering if you had any information about a certain person, or thing."  
"Go see Sasquatch," one member suggested. "He's most noble."  
The four of them [and their crate of bananas] was led into the largest of the huts, and there was a Bigfoot who had a great amount of confidence.  
"What do you bring for the exchange?"  
"Bananas; we jus' need one bit o' information."  
"…How _many_ bananas?"  
Raptor pointed to the cart, which carried two department-store crates of bananas.  
"All those bananas, for one tiny bit of information? You make an almost suspiciously good deal."  
"We're desperate, dude. We're trying to learn about a murderer."

Sasquatch nodded to his other tribesmen.  
"This'll be equally divided by our people. Now, I just ask one thing, member of the Blue People."  
"…Blue People?"  
"You both, you and that woman, you have bluish skin. Subgenre of human perhaps, but possibly last of kind?"  
"You could call it that. What did y' want from us?"

"Battle. Prove that you are worthy of such information, and I'll see if your quest is important enough to give you drive."

[[Author's Endnote: Sasquatch's dialogue is done this way for the same reason as Q-Bee's is, though I imagined Sasquatch to have much more intelligence when it comes to human language.

And, in response to Knight25's comment, I make character development/ relationship fluff chapters since it's kindof hard to squeeze in so many relationships in such an eventful story. Heck, we're not even halfway done yet, and Lei-Lei and Raptor have two constant villains [Q-Bee and BBHood], four supporting characters [the children, Morrigan, and Lilith], and planned cameos/revealed fates for each Darkstalkers character, and most appear at least twice. Besides the action and plot, there's also the ever-so-present RaptorxLeiLei subplot, Cecil and Anita's relationship with the both of them, and Morrigan/Lilith's interest in following them around.]]


	24. Bananas

[[Author's Note: Okay, disregard this Author's Note, ElFreakinCid pointed out I suck |D;]]

_You know what they say about guys with big feet!_

Raptor had only battled Sasquatch for a few minutes, but knew he was serious. The guy had used at least five ice beams [three of which hurt him], and Raptor's patience was growing thin.

"No, no," Sasquatch insisted. "You aren't proving yourself at this rate. It's nice of you to give us bananas, but you don't deserve the wisdom of us Bigfoot."  
The crowd that was watching nodded in agreement.  
"It was unfair competition anyways."  
"Nah," Raptor said, becoming slightly childish. "You're jus' a cheap fighter!"

The other Bigfoot gasped, and some of them began to chant angrily.

"U-Uh," Cecil said, huddling next to a female Bigfoot that had pity on their insufficient clothing, "I think you shouldn't have said that."

Raptor shrugged this off, and Sasquatch picked him up, throwing him in a spin towards one of the huts. Raptor went face first into the wall, his features still somehow intact. Sasquatch then pinned Raptor down with his feet as he began to use Raptor as an ice sled, as a series of snow dogs pulled him across.

When he got up, Sasquatch then began to throw exploding penguins at him; Raptor was growing more and more agitated.  
"_I just need a small piece of information!_"  
Suddenly, he began to glow yellow [like how Dimitri or Lei-Lei flashed bright colors], and a chainsaw appeared in his hands.  
He began to slightly gore Sasquatch's arm, and everyone watched in horror.

"R-Raptor, stop!", Lei-Lei pleaded, sidling over to him and grabbing down his arms. This led to her fingers nearly being sliced off, as his arm had entirely become a chainsaw.  
When he had stopped going berserker, Raptor noticed what he had done.  
"_LEI-LEI!_"  
Lei-Lei shrugged him off, hiding the pain in her hands.  
"Really, I-I've dealt with worse…"

Raptor took her hands, and, after noticing the carnage, gestured to Mei-Ling. Mei-Ling healed the wounds [albeit it exhausted a lot of her power].

Raptor was ashamed, although he didn't show it.  
Sasquatch stood, his arm bleeding profusely.  
"You put up a good fight, using the 'anger' tactic. You're lucky I wasn't expecting it! If we battle again, I'll keep it in mind."

Raptor raised an eyebrow.  
"So do you happen to know anything about a man named Bishamon? He once wore armor, with a cursed sword? Japanese ethnicity…"  
Sasquatch thought about this.

"A man came to our village in armor like that. But he was not Japanese, he was ethnicity of people below us."  
"Bishamon's American?"  
"No, his name wasn't Bishamon. His last name had… two 's' letters in it. That's all I know."

When they got out of the village, and onto the jet, Lei-Lei seemed somewhat disgruntled, as did Cecil.  
"How is it related if it isn't Bishamon?", Cecil had said.

Raptor was about to respond, but Anita beat him to it.  
"The murderer. As Lei-Lei said, the man with two R's in his first name."  
Lei-Lei then looked as if she realized a drastic mistake.

"American… and a last name with two 's' letters in it," Anita read from memory.

"Oh, _gee_," Lei-Lei said angrily, "that REALLY helps things. Ba**ss**, Bra**ss**ington, Cro**ss**…"  
"Yeh," Raptor said, "it woulda been a bigger help t' jus' 'ave more clues o' where Bishamon lives… though, obviously, 'im being Japanese doesn't mean that he lives in Japan. 'ell, I'm Australian and I'm in Canada righ' now!"

Anita continued reading_ Classic Horror Stories of Dark Ones_; she had just finished _'The Country of the Comers-Back_' by Lafcadio Hearn [1889], and was now reading '_Curse of the Cat Woman'_ by Edward Field [1967].

"Hey, Raptor," Anita said in slight dismay as she read the story, "have you met a catwoman?"

"Yeh. I'm friend wit' one, actually, after an odd turn of events at a Japanese concert…"  
"Oh. Horror stories, they really are foolish, aren't they…? Look, a jiang-shi one. I never knew Lei-Lei ate others' breath…"

"HEY! That's a folktale, and you know it!"  
"Heehee."

Thus they waited as the tour continued, Lei-Lei and Raptor [and even the children] trying to find any traces concerning the Japanese former-victim of the cursed armor.

[[Author's Endnote: The stories referenced in the nonexistent collection-book Anita has are actually real.]]


	25. A Paris dos Trópicos

[[Author's Note: If any of y'all have any questions [and it isn't asking about future plot developments], I'll be more than happy to answer 'em! :B]]

_You land beings are so weak! I'm disappointed._

Their flight had arrived in Manaus, Brazil. Raptor's show that night at the Teatro Amazonas had to be recalled due to a temporary overflow of illegal ticket sellers, so Raptor used this as another opportunity to gather information.

Cecil, excited that he was in a place with a more tropical climate, began to look around like a tacky, under-informed tourist.

"And _why_ are we in a rainforest? It's not even the Amazon…"  
"Shut up, Cecil. Y' always complainin' about everythin'."  
"Just wondering. Sure, you'll find a lot of monkeys, and you'll find even more birds, but can you talk bird? I can't talk bird. I can talk robot, though. Back home in Yucatán, I'd be deemed special, since I know so many languages. Maya is my first, with English and Spanish as my second ones. I also know basic Japanese, but I'm not so good with grammar."  
"I can tell tha' you're fluent in English," Raptor said, his head aching.  
"Thanks!"  
"Cecil," Anita said, "he's telling you to shut up."  
"She's a teenage girl, and she talks less than you," Lei-Lei pointed out. "I think that's kinda funny."

Cecil fell silent, embarrassed.

"You know," Cecil said, "I've never been in a rainforest before."  
"So you say," Anita said, nodding. "Then, how did you meet Huitzil?"  
"Those were _ruins_, Anita. _RUINS_."  
"So, what makes a 'ruin jungle' different form a regular jungle?"  
"Ruins, obviously."  
Anita said nothing; her opportunity for goodhumored snark at her friend's expense had been shot down.

They were looking through the forest like this, occasionally finding a rock that was covered in slime.  
"Eew," Cecil or Lei-Lei would say, and they would proceed to the next section of the forest.

"I still don't know who we could possibly meet in this rainforest. Natives? I'm not sure… What, can you talk to animals? I can't talk to animals."

"Shut up, Cecil," Raptor said as he squinted his eyes, listening for something.

He heard a splash, and Raptor ran in said direction; there was a large pond that seemed to be mush deeper than it was wide.  
"Man," Cecil said. "Speaking of, when we're in Scotland, I wanna see Loch Ness. Maybe there's a kelpie or something there."  
Raptor did not shut him up, and instead pointed to a series of odd objects.

Around that pond there was what seemed to be a bunch of huge eggs drying in the sun. They were an assortment of colors, and had a reflective, crystalline texture.

Cecil knelt down to examine them, making sure to not touch their surface.  
"Wow. They're larger than ostrich eggs..."  
"They look like they belong to a dinosaur," Lei-Lei commented.

"What species," Raptor called out, "Woul' be stupid enough t' leave its eggs 'ere?"  
"One dedicated to any theory," a voice called out, "that'll guarantee its survival."  
A human-esque face was underneath the water, and seemed to be wearing a yellow and green diving suit.

"Uhhhh…" Lei-Lei said. "This guy's a weirdo…"  
Raptor was frozen.  
"R-Rikuo."

"By drying my eggs, I plan to lower the salt inside them. Their survival will be heightened…"

"Yeh, but what if it hardboils 'em?", Raptor said.  
"How can a man," Lei-Lei pleaded sanely, "lay eggs?"  
The man rose up, to reveal he was actually some weird aquatic merman-thing.  
Lei-Lei froze, staring at the large fin on his head… and his claws.  
"O-Oh. Hello."  
"I am Rikuo," he said, standing up, "and I will not allow your vicious kind of person to live; the dead must stay dead."

[[Author's Endnote: Just letting you know, I'm not a big Rikuo fan [I like SASQUATCH more than him, and look how much screentime Sasquatch got! : ]. Sorry to any fans of the disgusting, slimy fishman who wishes to further the production of his ugly race. :/]]


	26. Over The Limit

[[OMG! Last chapter was the halfway-point, and I said nothing! *feels ashamed*

Sorry folks.

About Night25's question:  
In canon, Donovan DOES become a bad guy [in Vampire: Darkstalkers collection, his evil form is a playable character; see .com/watch?v=07gQlEiG37Y]. Anita is playable in Marvel Superheroes, and she has a lighter form of Donovan's sword [see .com/watch?v=DFiVyvtCWpQ].

And Anita's mom makes an acceptable character :3]]

_Pitiful land wretch!_

As it was Lei-Lei's turn to fight, Raptor and the children watched, with Cecil watching most intently.

"Go Lei-Lei!", he cheered.  
Lei-Lei smiled at this, and walked up to the fish man.  
"Raptor took us here to find information about a man named Bishamon. Japanese, formerly wore armor."

Rikuo scoffed.  
"I happen to have been fighting rivals with him, but I'll tell no such things to undead creatures like you."  
Raptor and Lei-Lei nodded to each other in understanding; she had to defeat this one for sure. Lei-Lei ecstatically shimmied her claws against each other, her eyes sparkling with opportunity.

"It's a pity that we'll have to beat some sense into you. We show no mercy to fools."  
The best part is that the former line was said not by Lei-Lei, or even Raptor, but Mei-Ling.

"Whose voice is that?"

Mei-Ling came off of Lei-Lei's head, and the two struck a pose.  
"We are twins, joined in mind and body! The power of your eventual judgment at the hands of Heaven and Hell is right in front of you!"

They said this in perfect unison, though if you paid close enough attention, Lei-Lei had fumbled one or two words.

"Y' both practiced that, didn't y'?"  
Mei-Ling crossed her arms in pride, huffing.  
"It's sister power! We can _read each other's minds._"  
"Well, Sis, we actually practice it once a week…"  
"Lei-Lei, you're ruining the moment!"  
Mei-Ling placed herself, in scroll form, back on Lei-Lei's forehead.

Lei-Lei began her usual stance of rolling her head back along her neck in half-circles.

Rikuo, who looked to be bored, spread out his webbed fingers, and, making a gesture with them, waited for something.

Raptor trudged past Lei-Lei; she picked up Rikuo and shook him.

"Y' cheap l'il bastard," Raptor said. "I knew y' woul' do this."  
The sound of rushing water could be heard.  
"Cheap son-o'-a-BI**H!"  
"I'm a prince," Rikuo said, "and I'd prefer it if you'd quit touching me."  
Raptor looked around, and cursed to himself.  
"Cheap-a**…!"

As Rikuo smiled and backed away into the pond, Raptor went over to Anita.  
"Climb my back."  
Anita, slightly flustered, climbed onto his back, and Raptor proceeded to climb very desperately up a large tree.

Cecil squinted upwards.  
"It suddenly got dark."

Lei-Lei, identifying the object of impending doom, grabbed Cecil with her sleeves, and used her real arms to climb up said tree.

Raptor and Lei-Lei only rested at the canopy near the very top of the tree, and when the tidal wave crashed, their knees were still submerged.

Cecil was flabbergasted.  
"Wh-What…?!"  
"…'Prince of th' Sea'… feh!"

Mei-Ling was enraged, and then took over Lei-Lei's body.  
"You monster! We have children with us! Lord knows what you've drowned on the surface!"

Raptor's eyes widened.  
"T-Tweedledum…"

"_People like you make me sick!_"  
As the water thinned out, they all climbed down.  
"Well," Rikuo said, "I hope that you land-dwellers have realized your patheticness."

Mei-Ling possessed Raptor [as odd as that was] and used the Soul Shock electric attack.  
Rikuo was instantly fried, and damaged beyond belief.

Rikuo lay a half-charred pile on the ground.  
"Ugggghhhh…"

Mei-Ling came off of Raptor's head, and stood over Rikuo in her human form.  
"_Speak, you maggot!_"

Lei-Lei, Cecil and Anita were all trying to hold Mei-Ling back from curbstomping Rikuo's face in, while Raptor tried to recover from being possessed for the first time.

"Tell us, you filth!"

"Okay, okay," Rikuo said weakly. "He's currently in Japan, and he's studying under Confucianism…"  
"What part of Japan?"  
"I-I don't know!"  
"Well," Mei-Ling said, "you got lucky. Come on, folks. Let's go. I'm leaving a prayer for the poor floor-animals…"

[[Author's Endnote: I love gambling in Dragon Quest 4. There's slots, poker… and monster tournaments. It's fun to see a bunch of cute monsters beat the nsot out of each other for your monetary gain.]]


	27. بلادي بلادي بلادي

[[Author's Note: Sorry for delays, folks. Lack of time, you know. Also, I'm grounded on weekdays, so I can only post up one chapter a day. Also, the 'Around the world Arc' is kinda boring, as it also features my least-favorite folks [*coughRikuoSasquatchAnakariscough*]]]

_You are not worthy to clean my tomb!_

After a few more months, Raptor had traveled all around South America, and most of Africa. When they had arrived in Cairo, Cecil was airing out his shirt, Anita used her hat as a shade, and Lei-Lei was sweating due to her heavy clothing.

"You know," Cecil said, "I never thought being in unusual climates would be so hazardous. My throat feels soooo dry…"  
"Shut up, Cecil," Raptor groaned.

They had checked a tourist center [and Raptor had to sign the necessary autographs, though some of his fans were in dismay that they were written in English]. Lei-Lei, usually thrifty as ever in anything but food,

"I always loved traveling," Cecil began, "and boy, do you have the resources, Raptor!"

Raptor shrugged.  
"Feh. I jus' wan' to make Lei-Lei happy."  
Lei-Lei, meanwhile, was renting camels. The loaner, not caring for her race but for her money, lent her said animals, and she walked up to the other three. She had two double-humped camels.  
"Cheaper than a cab, and this should take us to where we need to go…"  
Anita and Cecil climbed up on theirs, and Lei-Lei got in the front of hers.  
"Come on, Raptor. We have to hurry on…"  
"Why d' YOU get th' front?"  
"Pfff, I had to wait in line to pay for it, obviously. Now, come on! My skin'll be navy instead of blue if we don't hurry…"

The pyramid seemed very large [even for being, well, a pyramid].  
"Ah," Lei-Lei said as she smelled the dust in the air. "It's so hot out."  
As usual, Raptor wasn't effected at all, Cecil was complaining, and Anita remained stoic.

"Well," Cecil said, "We could've gotten a fan."  
"They know about complainers, so they raise the price," Anita said, "And you're not the _thriftiest_ person. That's why we had to take so many jobs before."  
"If only there was a portable fan, with a squirter or something here," Cecil fantasized.  
Anita sighed, since she wasn't being listened to again.

Raptor disembarked the camel, and helped Lei-Lei down. Cecil went down his, and Anita floated off, practicing her telepathy.  
"It'd 'ave been hard t' go here in the jet," he explained, "since the desert looks all the same from th' above."  
"Wait," Cecil said, cleaning some sand out of his ears, "Isn't it the same on foot? Causing stuff like mirages and, you know, death. Or maybe you just wanted to get on a camel ride with Lei-Lei, huh, dirty old man?"  
"Y' lucky we're not in public," Raptor grunted, "or I'd've fleeced you by now."

Cecil laughed nervously.  
"You're such a comedian, Raptor."  
Anita and Lei-Lei looked at Cecil with pleading and seriousness, and Cecil froze.  
"Wh-Whoa. Seriously, man, I w-wouldn't say that in public."

"Good," Raptor commented, as he began to look for the entrance to the tomb.

"I wouldn't want to be, say, impaled through the chest, or sliced by a chainsaw, or electrocuted…"  
"_Shut up Cecil_."  
The funny part was that it was Lei-Lei who said this, not Raptor.

"S-Sorry ma'am…"  
Raptor whistled, and Lei-Lei punched him the arm.

"H-Hey! It was because you were angry at him too! Don't make me look the villain!"  
"I mean' t' say that the entrance is very decorative."  
The single door to the tomb was covered in a series of hieroglyphs, and an appalling number of jewels.  
"I feel like Lara Croft," Cecil commented quietly.  
"_Man, I feel like a woman,_" Anita responded, singing slightly to it.

"N-Not like that, Anita!"  
"Well, if y' want Cecil, when we get t' th' jet, I'll fly you to a place where y' can have th' surgery done…"

"_Oh, shut up!_"


	28. O Great Pharoah

[[Author's Note: HOLY CRAP KNIGHT25 THAT WAS FAST.

Reflective/fleshing out chapter yay! It's to even out the chapter plans, you know.]]

_The power of Pharaoh __Anakaris__ is as eternal as the desert sands!_

Cecil felt as if Raptor and Lei-Lei were heavily annoyed by him; he had a bad habit of being talkative, as he had to chat up customers, but it was all because of Anita.

Sure, he had cheered on Huitzil from the sidelines before, and would occasionally cheer, but Anita had changed that.

Anita and Cecil had met when 'D' showed up.

It was a few years ago, after Cecil's best friend—the main Huitzil unit, 'No.1'—was destroyed by Jedah. No.1 had made Cecil happy in the end by providing Cecil with control of all of the other Pyron-made Huitzil units. No. 2, the first one to see Cecil [and No. 1's 'younger brother'], told Cecil about how to edit his orders, and how to program him.  
Cecil of course had to take out the parts where No. 2 and his brothers would destroy all life, and placed all units but No. 2 into a sleep mode.

No. 2 and Cecil traveled around until they passed by England, where Cecil took on a part-time job. He was only 12 at the time, but it was to feed himself.

He had been carrying in and out stock when, in the heavy rain, he saw a lump on the ground; battered, her were clothes ripped, muddy, and in disarray.

Cecil subconsciously picked the girl up, and placed her inside of No. 2's 'stomach', where Cecil himself usually slept.

Anita woke up when Cecil opened up No. 2's back 'door', and she was alarmed at her location. It had taken Cecil many minutes of talking to explain his actions without her trying to flail at Cecil. Even after Cecil had taken her to a coffee shop to warm her insides up, Anita did not want to talk; only after he asked politely, did she say:

"My stepfather was a man named Donovan," she started. "He was born with half of his soul shrouded in dark, and he went down a path of Buddhism to save his pure side from its darkness. However, it seems his heart finally... gave in."

Anita began to sob, and explained how she shouldn't have opened her heart to anyone else after her mother died.

Then Cecil had offered to take care of her.

It was amazing, how much easier it was with two people working. Anita had saved up her money to buy her current outfit, and, when Cecil bought her a matching hat, she actually smiled.

Cecil was interrupted by his flashbacks due to a lack of ground beneath his feet.  
"WAAAAAAAGGGH!"

Anita grabbed Cecil's hand; her dress was puffed out like a parachute, and she was straining to keep them afloat. Cecil looked down at Raptor.  
"Hey, Raptor, where are we going?"  
"An und'ground civilization."

When they had reached the bottom after what seemed like forever, Cecil noticed that, in the darkness of the passage, that there was a rope.  
"We could've just… ah, nevermind, ropeburn."

Raptor didn't respond, since standing in front of them was nobody else but the great pharaoh himself, Anakaris. Cecil was amused by the fact that they ran into more horror movie monsters than Scooby Doo, but then noticed his frightful size, and shivered.

Anakaris was surrounded by a series of guards with polearms and jackal-masks, and he shook his hands to call them off.  
"What are you doing here?", he said in a booming voice.  
"We wanted t' kna if y' had any inf'mation on a certain subject," Raptor replied. "A murderer. Last name has two s's in it, first name has two 'r's in it. He's from America, and wears a suit of armor. We're also searching for a Japanese man named Bishamon..."

"Well," Anakaris said reasonably, "I do not consider myself one to mince words, but I also have very little contact with the outside world. But, if you manage to entertain me somehow, I'll provide you with as much information as I, the great pharaoh, can muster. Now, bow before me!"

Raptor and Lei-Lei, equally pig-headed, sighed to themselves in dismay, but cecil piped up.  
"How about a battle, O Mighty Pharoah?"  
Raptor and Lei-Lei nodded, eager to not bow; Anita sighed at Cecil's brownnosing.  
"Yeh," Raptor said. "If we win, y' give us th' inf'mation. If we lose, we have t' bow before y'."  
"No," Anakaris said, shaking his head. "I'd want your failure to be broadcasted across my big nation, and for you to become my servants."  
Raptor was hesitant, as their chance of success wasn't 100%, but Cecil held out his hand to shake Anakaris'.  
"Deal!"  
Raptor and Lei-Lei secretly made gestures at Cecil as he did this, Anakrais unaware; Lei-Lei's were of anger and disbelief, while Raptor's were threatening and enraged.

Cecil gave Anakaris a thumbs-up.  
"One condition, though, is that they get to work together."  
"How is that fair?"  
"Think about it, Pharoah! What if they both lose, even if they team up against your greatness? They'd be a laughing stock for all of their immortality! And even if you DO lose, it's not like it was a fair fight in the first place."  
"Okay then, that sounds serviceable."  
The gestures ceased, since Raptor and Lei-Lei now knew that Cecil's meddling had made the battle theirs.


	29. Cheater

[[Sorry about the error on Ch24, ElFreakinCid D: I fail forever. I went and edited it. Silly me and my perceptions of culture, ahahahah… *coughs nervously*

Yes. If any of you have any problems, feel free to send it to me in a message or anonymous review, so that I can delete it once I fix it.

And sorry for not posting, since FF basically… shut down.]]

_You could challenge Ra, but I, Pharaoh Anakaris, am the greatest warrior of all time!_

Lei-Lei would admit that she did not like cheating, as she would fight fair, but here Anakaris had followers who would kill them if they were to win. She couldn't be tired, or else.

However, Raptor and Lei-Lei were tired from Anakaris' tricks. He could instantly appear behind them, separate himself, and was being just as unfair as they were.

And Raptor and Lei-Lei were cheating for their own advantage, not to be even…

Cecil seemed to be worried about this, and would look around, wishing for something to help them out. After all, he didn't want Lei-Lei to get so embarrassed. Raptor, maybe, but not Lei-Lei.

Anita seemed to be coldly analyzing them, as if looking for a weakness of some sort.  
"Let's see…"  
Anita then had a stroke of pure genius, and looked over at Lei-Lei.  
Concentrating, she began to lift something.  
"A-Anita," Cecil said. "You're glowing…"  
Anakaris noticed this, and then swiped at Anita.

Cecil grabbed Anita's arm and yanked her out of the way impulsively, and Anita shrieked.  
Lei-Lei suddenly began to glow again.  
"You _monster_!"  
Cecil was horrified, but when he looked at Anita, she was giving the slightest smile.  
"Anita," he said, "What were you…?"  
Lei-Lei began to chant something, and a weight dropped down from her sleeve, pummeling Anakaris with spiked iron balls [like in Dimitri's castle].

Anakaris was woozy, and Raptor was grinning.  
"Le Malta!", he called out, and, understandably, Le Malta suctioned up Anakaris into his mouth.  
Anakaris was compressed into a ball, and Raptor slam-dunked him through the hoop.  
Defeated, Anakaris groaned; Lei-Lei had fainted, as such displays of power made her utterly weak.  
"You… I know him, but I… will not tell you. You won… unfairly."  
"What?!", Cecil said, angry. "We had a deal!"  
"I am Pharaoh," Anakaris said. "I have no need for 'deals' and 'promises'."  
"Divine right of kings… feh! No wonder you had to go underground, since other nations would attack and destroy them for having such a _stupid_ leader!"

There was a rumbling of what sounded like thunder.  
"Oh nah," Raptor said, who was now sane. "Now y' did it…"

Raptor picked up the fainted Lei-Lei, and groping around in the darkness, found the rope.

"We 'ave t' go, now!"

[[Author's Endnote: Due to bad grades in Math, I'm sorry to say that I can only post multiple/long chapters on weekends. I can only come on the computer when my mother isn't here…]]


	30. I Think It's Cute

[[Author's Note: I'm so sorry D: I've been on hiatus due to a lack of drive to write every day in my restriction. I hope you'll forgive me one day ;_; I never intended it to be like over 2 weeks long…  
This chapter was hard ot make since it took me forever to think of something that'd fill in the space besides the escape…

To answer Frequent Reader's question, she DID appear in chapter 5… and my plans for Jon and Felicia are top-secret ;D]]

_We're utterly unlucky..._

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"  
Whether it was Raptor's constant urging, or the chanting of the furious mob below them, Cecil advanced at a steady pace.  
Lei-Lei seemed so very careless while she laid there, fainted; it was like she expected to be carried to safety. Cecil only wished he could be so stoic.

Cecil knew he had a bad habit of panicking, but didn't he have a good reason to? Here, an expansive empire that possibly covered all of Africa's unused underground were out to kill them.  
Would they suffer a fate that was both gruesome and painful?

He looked around, seeing nothing but darkness.

"How far to the top?"

"I dun' kna', jus' hurry!"  
Cecil was lightly holding Anita's hat in his mouth, and he began to climb the rope.  
"I-I hope I don't get ropeburn."  
"Either y' get ropeburn or y' get tortured. Oy, come on!"  
Raptor had finally climbed over, but Cecil's hands were getting blistered.  
"Agh…"

"Pick Anita up."  
"I know, Raptor, I know…"  
Cecil looked around.  
"Where do we go?"

"Well, I thin'… Hmm."  
He saw the camels.  
"Oy! You still 'ere? I thought they'd've died o' thirst…"

"Well, you know, they store water in their fat, and—"  
"Yeh, yeh, I realized it too late, shut up…"

Raptor took out a cigarette and lit it, wishing to extinguish some stress.

Cecil hoisted Anita onto a camel, and then noticed something.

"O-Oh. Uh… Uhm, Raptor. Well…"

Raptor nearly dropped the cigarette out of his mouth at Cecil's realization that their escape wasn't perfect.  
"…wha' are y' tryin' t' say?" Raptor said as calmly as he could.

"W-We're missing Anita's hat, and… and… Mei-Ling."  
~*~

Mei-Ling found herself in a throne room.  
"Uggggh…"  
She looked around, surveying the beautiful treasures glittered in the room.  
"How many treasures does Raptor _have_?!"

Poor Mei-Ling thought she was on the flight, and she sighed.

"Lei-Lei! You dropped me on some rock, didn't you? My back hurts…"  
She picked up Anita's hat, knowing its significance, and observed her surroundings again.

"Little paper," Anakaris said as he entered the room, with a torch. "I will burn you so as to shame that man and his woman."  
"…'His woman'? My sister is not Raptor's plaything, thank you very much. I think that such slander is worthy of death! Lei-Lei, show him--"

There was an uncomfortable silence.  
"Lei-Lei?"  
No response, save more silence.

Mei-Ling turned as pale as a ghost [oddly appropriate as that was].  
"Oh, bother."

~*~  
"Don't let her shame our people!", a soldier cried out.

Mei-Ling, who had to hold onto Anita's precious hat, proceeded to climb up the rope.

_I never was good in Gym class,_ she thought.

They lit torches to Mei-Ling, but she did not feel a thing [due to being, you know… a ghost], so, wondering if some part of her was her Achilles heel, they waved the torch through her.

They lit part of Anita's hat on fire.  
Enraged, Mei-Ling dropped from her hold on the rope, and quite viciously threw the offender into his comrades after grabbing his arm. Preventing any further damage [as they had singed the corner of it], Mei-Ling placed the burnt corner between her teeth as she continued to climb, but then realized how stupid she really was.

She simply floated to the surface, as if she was on an elevator, but her physical-ish form bumped into Raptor and Cecil [who were planning how they could possibly go back down].

Mei-Ling looked away.  
"I-I accidentally got her hat hurt."  
Cecil said nothing, and sullenly went back to the camel. As they proceeded to ride, Cecil trailed far behind them [but still within view] as he was bad at managing said camel.

"What th' hell," Raptor said to a floating Mei-Ling, "was he mopin' about?"  
"He bought Anita that hat for her birthday, since it matched her eyes. Anita then made her current outfit to match said hat." Mei-Ling looked at a nearby dune. "It's one of those 'power of friendship' things, and it's one of Anita's most prized possessions, besides her Universal Library Card."  
"Eh," Raptor said, growling. "It's still jus' a hat."

"I think it's cute," Lei-Lei said, still drowsy.

Raptor very visibly flinched, and Mei-Ling snickered as they slowly progressed to their destination.

[[Author's Endnote: This marks the end of the third, boring arc. Woohoo, England! I like the England one. Is it just me, or is Mei-Ling getting more and more spunkier, now that she and Lei-Lei aren't so lonely?

Random Fact: Ace Ventura Jr. SUCKS, and can NOT be registered as a MOVIE.]]


	31. She Can't Resist!

[[Heehee…

That comment by Frequent Reader was SO perfectly placed 3

Also, what gave me huge drive to go into this again [and overcome writer's block] was not the Darkstalkers anime, but the… Thumbelina movie. Why? I DON'T KNOW. 'Let's cut a rug, my lady bug!']]

_You are not suitable to be my scratching post!_

"It smells like fish," Lei-Lei commented.  
They had arrived in England, and Lei-Lei couldn't help but smell it in the air.

"Tha's because there's a special on it today at the terminal."  
"It smells good."

Raptor looked around, and he squinted.  
"I can sense a large quantity o' Darkstalkers 'ere…"

He took the cigarette out of his mouth, squinting even more.  
"Well, I think we'll be able to get much more information that way," Lei-Lei said, tugging on his arm with her hand. "And more fighting! Heheheh."

Mei-Ling had secretly stuck herself to Raptor's back when he hadn't noticed.

_**I'm trying to think**_, Mei-Ling said, _**of how to get some of Lei-Lei's effeminate side back.**_

_She's happy as she is_, Raptor commented back.

_**Yes, but sometimes even tomboys have to display female tendencies! **_

Frustrated, Mei-Ling disattached herself, but couldn't find Lei-Lei.

Cecil pointed to the terminal's main 'culture restaurant'— restaurants placed in airports so that tourists could get a taste of the cuisine when they arrived, and those who were leaving could have some of their usual cultural favorites before they left.

"Heheh! She's… hungry… again."

"This happens whenever she's depleted after a match, or over time," Anita commented. "So, very often. It must have been harsh when her and Mei-Ling had no money…"

"She had to eat scraps," Mei-Ling replied, in ghost human form. "We saved up our money and 'treated' ourselves with a stay at a hotel. She got a sandwich, and I got a nice replenishing meal."

Raptor looked very angry.  
"Bloody 'ell."  
"Yeah,

"No, I mean, why would Lei-Lei be forced t' do that?"  
Cecil gave Mei-Ling a frantic look of 'what have you done?'.

"My baby deserves th' best!"  
"R-Raptor, calm down. She's perfectly fine now."  
"Yeh, but what if I didn't go t' that hotel?"  
Mei-Ling froze; despite being a lovestruck fool, he made sense.

Even if she did have a counterpoint, Raptor had charged inside of the restaurant.

When Mei-Ling, Cecil and Anita had gone inside, Raptor had Lei-Lei in his arms, and was attempting to kiss her.

"Get _off_, idiot!"  
"Oh, Lei-Lei, baby, I feel so very sorry for you… Let me help _heal your wounds_—"  
Lei-Lei grabbed his arm, and threw him down onto the ground, which knocked him out, though he was still giggling.

"So, you still have to judo-throw him? What a hassle, heehee. Men are silly."  
Mei-Ling looked to see the source of the voice; it was who Lei-Lei was sitting with, the nun Felicia.

"M-Miss Felicia, what are you doing here?"  
"I got an idea form you two," she said, "to help my children find homes by touring the world with them accompanying me, to show them off to a huge audience! That's what you've done."

Lei-Lei's eyes widened.

"Huh?! How…"  
Felicia handed Lei-Lei a newspaper.  
"…'Metal Star touring with woman and orphans. Possibly a—?' Ohhhh, I hate any accusations like that. _It's a business relationship!_"  
"Dearest Lei-Lei…!", Raptor was mumbling.

"Don't make me put my foot in your face! …So, Sister Felicia, how're you showing your kids off?"

Sister Felicia took her cap off, to reveal her cat-ears, hair, and—

"No way!", Mei-Ling said. "_That _Felicia?!"

Raptor slowly regained his senses, and he stood.  
"Yeh. She's a stage performer…"

"Dancer, singer, actor. I'm a, uh, big... fan…", Mei-Ling said nervously.  
Felicia winked.  
"It's a small world."

Lei-Lei stacked her third consecutive plate of fish and chips, and was working on a yorkshire pudding.  
"I know the feeling! All I have to do is taste something from Australia, and I'll have sampled all the cuisines of the world!"

Lei-Lei looked at a nearby staff member passing by.

"...hey, waiter, can I have some gravy?"

Mei-Ling couldn't help but grin, talking to herself.

"Wow, those kids are lucky! To travel with a big time star. I'm envious."

Raptor decided not to comment on the obvious.

Mei-Ling turned to Felicia.  
"So, when are you performing?"

"Tomorrow night."  
Raptor flinched.  
"Wh-When?"

"6PM-9PM."  
Raptor fell silent.  
"That's… when I'm performin'."  
"Oh… oh dear."  
"W-Well," Lei-Lei said, trying to lighten the mood. "The audience for both is vastly different."  
"No," Felicia said sadly. "We're performing the charity musical 'Nyan-Nyan None', and we need as wide an audience as we can get. Raptor would steal the show."  
Lei-Lei nodded; she knew just how crowded the audience halls were.

"Well," Anita suggested, "why not a double act? You'll get money for both acts by combining the ticket price, and any fans of both'll be satisfied beyond belief."  
Raptor thought about it, and shrugged. He held out his hand to Felicia.  
"Eh, why not? Fifty-fifty."

Felicia shook it vigorously.

"Deal!"

Felicia passed by Lei-Lei, and patted her on the back.  
"Take care of the oaf for me, will ya?"  
"Yup! I'll deliver the letter, too."  
As Felicia exited, Le Malta began to make arrangements about the concert.

"What's that letter for?", Mei-Ling asked.  
"Oh. We have to go to the mountains to deliver it to her friend. Though, personally, I'm interested as to how 'friendly' they are! Heheh."  
Mei-Ling smiled, comforted that Lei-Lei wasn't becoming unladylike.

Cecil turned to Anita, very impressed.

"How'd you come up with that?"

Anita raised an eyebrow, drinking from a cup of coffee casually.  
"Double Creature-Features in the midnight block, on the Sci-Fi channel."

Cecil smiled nervously.

"Ha… hah. You and your… horror films."

"The 'Mr. Vampire'[1] and 'Dawn of the Dead' was my favorite block."  
She turned to Lei-Lei.  
"What's that on your back?"  
"Hmm?"  
Anita took off a flier that listed a role in the musical.  
"She… wants you to be in it."  
Lei-Lei was immobilized, and the pink spots on her cheeks became even darker.  
"Wh-What?"

"Yeah. As a back-up dancer. I guess it's as thanks."

Lei-Lei suddenly became excited.  
"Heehee! And if I follow everyone else, I CAN'T mess up!"

"Yeh, yeh," Raptor said, nodding eagerly. "It'll be a good experience, t' be on stage, an'…"  
He took the flier, and then, thinking about something, he tried his best to hide a grin.  
"Yeh, yeh, it's nothin' bad."

[[The movie series 'Mr. Vampire' is actually about jiang-shis [like Lei-Lei].

I love English food. And no, I'm not implying that's all folks in England eat. Lei-Lei just wanted to try them, since she had heard so much about them.

And darn, Yorkshire pudding's SO good with gravy.]]


	32. So Girly It'll Make You Vomit

[[Sorry, folks. I replaced the infected chapter after using Avast. ]]

_I'll be faster! Yes… I'll obtain lightspeed!_

"You know, mountains aren't as rigorous as the movies make them look," Mei-Ling said as they ascended up the mountain's side.  
"That's because you can float!", Cecil complained; since he had lost at a competition of rock-paper-scissors, he had to carry their camping gear.

Lei-Lei was holding the map with her real hands, while her sleeves scratched her head in perplexity. Anita held onto the wax-sealed, regal-looking letter, occasionally smelling the thick perfume.

"Maybe," Anita remarked, "it's a letter to a prince."  
"What sorta prince lives in the mountains?!", Cecil barked, incredulous.  
"I 'ave t' agree with 'im on tha' one. Who's it addressed t'?", Raptor said.

"I can't read the loopy font that well, so I may have it wrong," Lei-Lei said, "but Sister Felicia described him as being 'tall, dark, and handsome'."  
"Oh boy," Raptor said unenthusiastically. "What a lead."

There was a pause as the continued to ascend, and Cecil shrugged.

"At least we know the person is of tall stature and is male…", Cecil said. "Could be worse."  
"…like our case with 'RR SS'? And Bishamon?", Lei-Lei remarked sadly.  
Due to this sad realization, all of them were silent for a while, and then Anita pointed to a plateau, barren in every way save for healthy grass and a single log.  
"We can rest on that," Anita said. "It looks nice and level."  
Raptor and Lei-Lei both set up camp [since Cecil was exhausted from hoisting it all up there on his back], and Anita was to make a fire.  
Anita admitted that she had cheated by using slight pyrokinesis, which was a latent ability she still had yet to harness, but she didn't mind.

She once wondered if she would be a freak when she was an adult.

Anita thought harder about this, and then realized that, when she is to turn 18 in 2012, humanity would be dead as they knew it, and-

-Oh, no, that was just a theory. Anita should know by now to not trust such silly things.

She sighed, and then took out the sleeping bags.  
"Here, you three can sleep inside the two tents. Someone should keep watch…"  
"Nah, nah," Raptor insisted. "I'll keep guard."

"Are you sure?", Lei-Lei said, concerned. "Really, don't strain yourself."  
Raptor, noticing her worry, puffed himself up more.

"I don't have any need t' sleep anyways! If anythin' attacks, I'll serve it to you as breakfast! Heheh."  
Anita rolled her eyes and went inside to sleep, and Lei-Lei laughed.  
Mei-Ling snuck out when Lei-Lei had fallen asleep, and she sat next to Raptor, who was staring at the fire in a vain attempt to stay awake.  
"I don't know, Raptor," said Mei-Ling, concerned. "I don't want Lei-Lei to be exploited, but she'll have so much fun."  
"She won't be _exploited_," Raptor said. "At most, she'll attract some folks, since she is quite th' article..."

"Some?! This is gonna be viewed by your fans, too! Do you have any idea how many people…"  
Raptor froze.  
"I-I forgot abou' tha' whole double-act thin'."  
Mei-Ling then had a stroke of genius; she hated to do so, but she knew how to manipulate him.

"Imagine, Raptor. All those people clamoring over Lei-Lei, more than they already do in those newspapers Cecil had! All of those other men… you should prevent stuff like that, since Lei-Lei can only fend off so many men, you know. She isn't Penelope!"

Raptor quickly nodded.  
"I'd rather fight with you over Lei-Lei than a ton o' strangers."

Mei-Ling stood, and began to walk back to the tent.  
"I'm happy to see that we're finally in agreement over something."

_That was easier than I guessed it would be_, Mei-Ling thought.

Raptor slowly began to doze off, and soon he fell asleep sitting up, snoring slightly.

A pair of boys, 14 and 12 respectively, were walking by.  
"P-People!", the younger one whispered frantically.  
"C'mon, let's go and report!", the elder boy said, grabbing the younger one's arm as they proceeded to run away.

Within twenty minutes, a hulking 6'01'' shadow cast over Raptor. Since he was sleeping, he unconsciously welcomed it, and continued to sleep.  
"Hnnhnn… Lei-Lei…"

Anita, who heard noises outside, crept a peek from the tent.

The creature was actually a huge werewolf, with huge claws, teeth, and muscles.

However, unlike the others would have been, she was unfazed.  
She picked up the letter, and went outside, still stoic.

"Excuse me," she whispered, not wanting to disturb Raptor's sleep.

"Oh?" the creature replied. "You stand up so bravely against something so much taller than you, and with not a single shiver in your person."

His eyes suddenly displayed an odd warmth.  
"You are more brave than most adult men I have met in my life, young girl."  
"I am Anita," she mumbled, trying to hide that she was flattered. "Would you happen to know who this letter is addressed to?"  
She handed him the perfumed letter, and he froze.  
"Wh-Who is this from?"  
Anita, happy that they had found the recipient of the letter so soon, nodded.

"Felicia. She's a nun who dances and, uh, sings…"

"…is she a blue haired catwoman?"  
"Yes."

Talbain looked at the ground shyly.

"I once saved her from an exploding train, and some odd robotic things, except it was many years ago_._ I guess she's giving me her, uhm, thanks."  
Anita froze; if Cecil were to find out that Talbain was the cause of some of the Huitzil units being destroyed, he'd be horribly upset.

As Talbain looked the envelope over like an expensive piece of art, Anita nodded enthusiastically.

"It's in a pretty fancy envelope…"

Talbain raised an eyebrow.

"I have the feeling that you're urging me to read it."

"Out loud, preferably. I'm dying to know its contents, as I held onto the envelope the hike up here. It can't be that bad; it's just a friendship thing."

Nodding, he proceeded to try and open it.

However, he was having some difficulty, and he looked it over.

"…are you supposed to open envelopes without breaking the seal?"

Anita took it from him, and opened up the letter crisply.

She handed it to him, but he flinched.  
"A-And I can't read it, since my paws are so large…"

Anita groaned at how difficult he was being, and began to read from it.  
"…'Dear Talbain'…."

_Hey, it's Felicia! I'm a sister now; not a nun, since I can live the monastery._

_Yes, there is a difference!  
I guess you can call me Sister Felicia now. _

_But then, that'd be awkward, since_ [something was scratched out here]

_I have yet to make my permanent vows, since that'll take about a year._

_Oh, why am I bothering you with this! I'm so silly sometimes. _

_My kids—not by marriage, I'm pure, they're orphans— like following me as I'm singing._

_I sent this heartfelt offer of friendship with a blue-skinned girl and her friends, so be sure to help them with their troubles! The blue-skinned man with them once saved my life from some priests, the girl is respectable with adorable attitude, and the two children with them are darling._

It listed a return P.O. Box, and it had a series of hearts filled with glitter here and there, and the letter was signed with a lipsticked lip print.

Anita held back her vomit due to how sickeningly sweet, girly, and non-platonic it was, and then handed it back to Talbain, who was having trouble thinking of something to say.

"S-So," he said a minute or two later, pointing to Raptor, "that is the blue man?"

"Yes," Anita said. "My best friend Cecil and I are the two children, and Miss Lei-Lei is the blue girl."

"Well," Talbain said complacent and calm, "I live further down the plateau. Come to me in the morning with your friends so that I can help you."

"Yes," Anita said, going back to her tent. "I'll tell them. Thank you."  
She went inside, and wrapped herself up in Lei-Lei's sleeve.

Raptor, who had slept through even Anita's bold reading of the letter, stayed happily asleep.  
"Awww, don' tease me like tha'... Hnnhnn…"

[[I imagined Anita, at full mastery of all her latent powers, to have more abilities at her disposal than Alucard of Hellsing. AKA, she can decimate _anything_.

'Penelope' is a reference to the Odyssey, since Odysseus' wife Penelope is fabled to have turned down over a hundred suitors repeatedly.  
Also, Felicia was saved _twice_ in the anime! Once by Raptor, and then by Talbain. Felicia, don't become like Princess Peach!]]


	33. I Want His Blood On My Coat

[[Author's Note: The Living Undead has 700 hits! Wow, I never thought my first fanfic would be this, well, _liked_. Especially since I'm only 15 years old, and that's usually the 'red zone' for fanfic authors…

Anyways, I do thank you. after about 3 thousand more words, it'll be novel length!]]

_Hurry, leave, before the beast takes over…!  
_

When Raptor had woken up, Anita was sitting next to him, with her book in her lap.

The action made Raptor somewhat taken back; even with their mutual, almost parental friendship, he was unused to any sign of caring.

He nudged her awake.

"Oy. _Oy._ We 'ave t' look for th' Tall Bane guy or whateve'."  
Anita slowly opened her eyes; Raptor just now noticed that they were purple.  
She quickly closed them again, mumbling.

"He came here… last night…."

Raptor than jumped, so much that it woke Anita up.  
"W-Wot? I was takin' watch! Heheh…"  
Anita looked at him in that usual, cold way.  
"You passed out."  
Raptor squinted, smiling. He took out a cigarette.

"So? Wot's it t' ya? Nobody got hurt anyways."  
Lei-Lei came outside, wearing a white pajama set covered in pandas. Where had that been, he wondered, and why didn't he abuse his privileges of sleeping outside to peek?  
He cursed to himself, and Lei-Lei raised a hand, grinning.  
"Well, we should probably depend on someone more reliable."  
"Hey, hey!" Cecil interjected. "I'm reliable! Just give me a DS and a Pokemon game, and I'll be set."

"Pokemon, Pokemon, Pokemon," Anita said irritably. "You've saved so much potential book money towards that franchise!"

"I loved the show as a kid," Cecil remarked. "It's only natural."

"You still _are_ a kid," Raptor said as he picked up the bags.

Lei-Lei came back outside, wearing her normal outfit. Mei-Ling had woken up as well, and her paper form was swishing in the mountain air.

"Ahhh… it feels so great!", Lei-Lei said. "I could use some tea right now."  
"Oh," Anita said as she picked up a tent stake. "We have to see who has to carry the packing things."  
Raptor, Anita, and Cecil went into a circle; Lei-Lei continued packing up the tents, but, sadly, Raptor knew that he had to pay attention to something else in this case.  
"Okay," Cecil said. "One… two…"

Raptor got scissors, Anita got scissors, and Cecil got rock.

"Hahahah!" Cecil said in triumph. "You two have to duke it out!"  
Raptor nodded, and turned to Anita.  
"One… 'ey."  
Anita was staring at his forehead intently, and she snapped out of it.  
"…yes?"  
"Did y' think you coul' read my min'?"

Anita raised an eyebrow, hiding a smile.  
"Y-You cannot possibly be accusing me of cheating."  
"Yeah," Cecil remarked. "There's nothing up there to read anyways."

Raptor roared, chasing after Cecil.

"Y' A DEAD MAN!"

Anita looked around, only to find no packing supplies.  
"Where's the load?"  
Raptor had toppled Cecil onto the ground, and was digging his face into mud.  
"Huh?"

Anita pointed to a distant figure.  
"Lei-Lei left without us."

Raptor, Anita and Cecil had ran frantically towards Lei-Lei, who was carrying the load in her sleeves.

"OY, BABY!"  
Cecil scoffed.  
"I doubt she'd be able to hear you. I think her ears filter out silly things."

The next thing he knew, Cecil's face was covered in mud again, since Raptor had tripped him. Lei-Lei noticed after Anita yanked on her sleeve.

"Oh, sorry," Lei-Lei said. "I was looking for some tea."  
Anita pointed to a small building nearby.  
"Well, you went in the right direction."

Talbain's home was a handmade [but well-crafted] dojo. One could tell it was quite old, but it bore the marks of dedicated warriors. Raptor didn't like how old it looked, though.

"Hello again, Anita," Talbain said in his very calm voice. "I was expecting you and your friends sometime soon."

Talbain then pointed to Lei-Lei.  
"You. You're the ki master, I recognize you from that… second tournament."

"Huh?"  
Raptor laughed very nervously; if Lei-Lei was reminded of her past self, her hate would be renewed.  
"Now, now, Mr. Wolf, hahah... There's no need to be so sentimental, and—"  
Raptor then remembered howling, and a streak of bluish-white light.  
"_YOU!_" Raptor shouted, upset. "You're that wolfman who knocked me over when I was tired!"  
Taken aback by this near-bipolar shift of Raptor's attitude, it took a small while for Talbain to become fully offended.  
"…What?! I would do no such thing!"

"_Oh yes y' did! I have the bruises still!_"  
Talbain shook his head.  
"I've never seen you before, Mister. I'm afraid you're mistaken."  
Raptor then noticed he was in his human form, and then opened the portal of hellfire.  
"There."  
Talbain thought about it for a while.  
"Oh, yes. The zombie."  
"Whaddya mean '_oh yes, th' zombie'_? You beat up a tired man!"  
Talbain shrugged casually, which angered Raptor even further.

"In my opinion, the dead should be left to rest…"  
"Oh? Y' said y' want me dead? Did ya, y' big furry?"  
Talbain sighed in impatience.  
"I never said such things."  
Lei-Lei grabbed Raptor's arm.  
"Come on, no need to be so angry…"

"No," Raptor said loudly, "I'm gonna win and get my dignity back."

"R-Raptor—"

"_I WANT HIS BLOOD ON MY COAT."_

This exchange was so horrifying that Cecil was hiding outside of the dojo in the fetal position.

Anita was reading a book called 'The Wild World of Raptor'.  
"It says right here that he has killed many people, but press coverage didn't want to cover him, since he's famous. That's… kind of scary, in retrospect."  
"Remind me to never make him that mad. Wait… he has a biography…?"

"An autobiography."

"Hmm," Talbain said, "I might as well honor the wishes of a dead man."  
"_Say that to my face!_"  
"I just did."  
Lei-Lei, meanwhile, was enjoying tea with Talbain's two adopted sons.

"You know," the older one said, "I've never seen many blue-skinned girls. I saw you once in a magazine."  
"Magazine?"  
"Yeah. They're rare to get ahold of, since Jon thinks that kungfu is more important than media."  
"He's _that _dedicated…?"  
Lei-Lei looked to the door where Raptor and Talbain were preparing to fight.

_No wonder Raptor was caught off guard that time…_, she thought.

[[Anita's purple eyes are based on her official art from Dee's ending in Darkstalkers Collection. Lei-Lei's pajamas are based off her Midnight Bliss ones, and her pajamas from Pocket Fighter.

Also, yes, the title of the autobiography is based off of Raptor's infamous 'video' from the Darkstalkers kid's cartoon.]]


	34. Honor

[[Author's Note: Woohoo, weekend! Though our A/C is shot for the entire weekend. It's 3PM, and I'm wearing shorts and camisole in springtime. Sometimes I hate living in Florida.]]

_Miserable pup! You are less than a flea to my power!_

Talbain spread his legs out to get equal footing; his moves were professional, Anita thought as she observed. He would be the most competent fighter yet.

Anita had taken a liking to writing horror stories, but none of them were any good; she had admitted to Lei-Lei that her innate sense of location for Darkstalkers was useful to only Dimitri and her wanting inspiration.

If anything, Cecil was following her, not the other way around. He was always so clingy and protective; to a normal person, it'd be unnerving, but Anita craved comfort.  
After Donovan had dropped the last six letters of his name, Anita had been alone, and Cecil had been her only comfort.

"Miss Anita."  
She snapped out of her trance.  
"Yeah?"  
"H-He's being…. err…"  
Anita looked back at the fight; Jon was flying across the dojo at a manic rate, and Raptor watched, stupefied.

"What're y' doin'?"  
He then became increasingly angry.  
"Get back 'ere!"  
"Oh no," one of Talbain's sons said as he walked next to Anita. "Please don't tell me he'll—"  
"GET BACK 'ERE, YOU **COWARD**!"

Anita froze.  
"Somehow, I think Raptor has given himself a death sentence."  
"Deader than dead," the son commented.  
"Ah well!", Cecil said. "We have no need for worry. Talbain's logical enough to only beat the pulp out of him!"  
"You're forgetting," the son said, "that Raptor just called Jon a coward."

Indeed, as the son said this, Raptor was thrown into his third [consecutive] wall.

He wobbled himself to standing.

"Yaaauuugh! Y' filthy, furry son o' a--"  
"Silence."  
Raptor was half-alive [or, rather, half-undead] by the time that he was finally thrown to where Lei-Lei and the other son were sitting, still drinking tea.

"A-Auuuuugh," Raptor said, looking up at Lei-Lei. "I dunno what I did wrong."  
"Challenging Jon in the first place?"

"No… I can still take him!"  
Talbain had calmed down, and he picked Raptor up by his neck.

"You wretch. Even in the face of another death you laugh."

"Eh," Lei-Lei said. "Laughing masks insecurities. I took psychology the year before I died… Sophomore year…"

Raptor did indeed laugh.  
"Lei-Lei, d' y' 'ave my coat?"  
"Yeah," Lei-Lei said, tossing it to him. "Why?"

Raptor held up the bloodsoaked area in the front of him, and Talbain was confused.

"Fool," Talbain said, his fist still around Raptor's throat. "The agreement was that, I would win upon you either giving up or dying, and you would win upon my blood touching your coat."  
"Yeh."

"Are you implying you want your _own_ blood on that coat?"  
Raptor then pointed to his yellow, elongating, sharp-beyond-imagination ribs.  
"Nyeh-nyeh," Raptor said, waggling his tongue.  
"Y-You cheap—", Lei-Lei said, trying to mask her laughter... but couldn't. "Dahahah!...Oh, c'mon Sis, you have to give it to Raptor this time. You'd think after fighting him for a while Talbain would--"

Talbain was confused.  
"Wh-What?!"  
Raptor then let out a high-pitched squeal as he shot out his ribs at Talbain.  
Talbain's flesh didn't cut anywhere near as easily as humans, but it drew blood, which fell on the left shoulder of Raptor's jacket.  
"_I win._"

The sons were shocked.  
"Y-You cannot possibly consider that his win!"

"No, he's right."  
Talbain realized his rashness, and bowed his head.  
"Fine. You win in this occasion. Should we ever meet again after this, you'll be deader than undead."  
He squinted.  
"Now that I know your secret weapon, I'll know not to underestimate even a moldy, foolish pup of a fighter. Come on, boys, we have to train even harder."  
"Noooo!", the younger one wailed. "I don't want to do all those situps!"  
"No, no," the older said. "It's your turn to get the monthly newspaper from the nearest town."

"_Nooooooo!_"  
Talbain crossed his arms, his wound already healed.  
"We'll have to work twice as harder for me to get over my loss. ."  
The sons, shocked, turned to Raptor.

"_If Jon doesn't kill you, we will._"  
Raptor laughed at this, but then noticed that they had both picked up nunchaku, and were swinging them with inhuman skill.

"Gyaaaaaaah!"  
The now frightened Raptor ran out of the dojo, presumably towards the city.

Talbain walked over to Lei-Lei, handing her a messily-folded letter.

"Deliver this to Felicia, if you would."  
"Sure!"  
Lei-Lei, Anita and Cecil began to run down the mountain, no matter how reckless it actually was [or how much Cecil complained].

Lei-Lei would respond with:  
"C'mon, we have to catch up with Raptor!"

[[Endnote: Poor Talbain's bloodlust isn't completely controlled.

And the letter is messily folded due to Talbain's huge paws. And he won't let his sons fold it, since that's pretty embarrassing for a warrior, to write love letters and all.]]


	35. I Want A Happy Ending

[[Author's Note: Oh boy… here comes a taste of the… 'serious arc'. The arc doesn't officially start until chp 41, but it comes slowly… in doses…

Can anyone say 'bait-and-switch'? Hey-ohhhh!]]

_They're marching to their death! __**WHY**__?!_

Anita pointed on the jetplane's glass window to a castle.

"There's one," Anita said, "right there. A Darkstalker."

"Nah, Anita," Raptor replied as they flew in their airplane towards the big double-premiere in Germany.

"Why not?"  
"Th' show is _t'night_. We can't spend all night there, we 'ave t' hurry t' th' show."

Anita looked up at him sadly, and then to the castle.  
"It couldn't possibly take that long…"

"Listen, Anita," Raptor said, continuing his scolding. "both Felicia and I 'ad t' work 'ard t' get our compromise with th' people. If we extend it any further—"  
"But I have a definite feeling about this one!"  
Raptor froze.  
"W-Wot?"  
"I smell another former Darkstalker's aura around him. You said Bishamon was once a Darkstalker, right?"  
Raptor looked very uncomfortable.  
"S-So what if I did…?"

Lei-Lei burst into the room.

"What?! You have a lead?!"

Anita nodded solemnly.  
"Yeah… Raptor won't let us go, though, due to us going to the show tonight."

As something had snapped in her head, Lei-Lei grabbed Raptor by his coat, and shook him vigorously.

"It's 7AM! We have all the time in the world!"  
"No, Lei-Lei, I jus' wasn't sure tha'—"  
"Well, then let's go!"

Nodding to Lei-Lei, Raptor gave Anita a very cold, bitter look, and Anita countered it with her own; he had no business in hindering Lei-Lei's progress, after all.

Cecil was sitting in a corner, depressed; Anita went over to him. She had, after all, been cured of many sad times by him, so she wanted to repay the favor.

"What's wrong, Cecil?"  
"Anita… you do realize that…"

What Anita heard was the last thing she wanted to be reminded of; the words were simple and easy to understand, but it took a while for them to sink into her subconscious.

"No."  
Something snapping in the back of her head, Anita began flailing towards Cecil.  
"You're a liar! I can't believe you'd say that!"  
"You caused this," Cecil said, taking his beatings.

Cecil had turned his face away, but was looking at Anita from the corner of his brown eyes. Anita hated when he did that, and her ferocity increased to very unladylike proportions.  
"No, I didn't! I… just wanted… to help her…!"  
Anita's punching slowed, and she held onto Cecil's arms, crying into his chest.

"W-Why… would you think that…? After all we've been through together… he'd never… _she'd _never…"

"We have only one day for each performance," Cecil said, "and Raptor wants to kick off a whole year of touring in Australia."  
Anita froze; it had, indeed, been almost a year that she and Cecil had been traveling with Raptor, Mei-Ling, and Lei-Lei.

"B-But..."  
Cecil's words from that short while ago rang through her head.

'_You know what'll happen once Lei-Lei finds out where Bishamon is_.'

"No…"

The electronic phones and the TV in that section off the jet began to flicker in their reception.

'_She'll leave us, and never come back, since her soul will be at rest. Since we'll be of no use to him, Raptor'll abandon us, too.'_

"**NO**!"

The electronics exploded, and a dazed, emotionless Cecil laid inside the clouds of smoke.

_Mother, please forgive me. I only wish I wasn't this selfish, and could let go of a substitute for you… b-but I don't… want Lei-Lei to leave me. I fully acknowledge my stupidity at such commitment, when I have been betrayed before; by father, by those people, and by Donovan— no, Dee. _

_Why must I open my heart to someone, and then have them rip it to shreds…?_

_Tell me that, Mother. It has happened so many times._

She looked at her headless doll.

_Dee cut off her head to show I had emotions. Why did he manipulate me, then? Why did he… No, why did __**the world**__ become so bitter to me that after taking you away, Mother, that the only one I can trust is a boy with his head in the clouds?_

_Oh, Mother…_

Anita pulled her knees to her chest.

"I… Cecil, just once in my life…"  
She bleakly looked up.  
"Just once… I want a happy ending."

[[Author's Endnote: With Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling always being so warm, kind, and honorable, no wonder Anita liked them both in here and in the anime…]]


	36. Just Won't Wake Up

[[Author's Note: I love Anita to pieces. She destroys things with her mind; she is cute as a girl/beautiful as an adult; she has [as thought by me] a morbid, dark, dry sense of humor; and she is so very _purple._ So sad that she's mistreated by, well, everyone.]]

_I used to be just bits and pieces, now it's your turn!_

Raptor, Lei-Lei, and the kids had gone to the castle 'von Gerdenheim'; Anita had read in some books that von Gerdenheim was a direct descendant of Victor Frankenstein himself, and they were all nonetheless intimidated.

"I'm expecting some sort of cliché," Lei-Lei said bluntly. "7 or 8 feet tall, bolts in the neck. Green skin, black hair."

"I sure hope not," Cecil said. "The Huitzils wouldn't be able to accept such a cartoonish enemy…"  
Lei-Lei heard sobbing.  
"What is that?"  
"That's th', uh, sound of a victim's relative. I suggest we go! Heheheh."  
Lei-Lei shook her head doggedly.

"No; I must not sway our course. Not now. Now that Anita has given us a solid lead, we cannot shy from our mission. Our mission, as sisters, is to avenge our parents!"  
She looked at Raptor bitterly.  
"I am disappointed in you, Raptor."  
Raptor tensed up; she was becoming like her form in her past life, the one that hated him unconditionally.

"W-Well, aft' this, an' th' performance, I'll take you to a seafood place. Y' already had German food, right?"

Raptor looked over at Anita, intending to glare at her, but Anita's eyes had become soulless; he could even see her eyes glossed over with held-in tears.

"Anita…"  
"Y…Yes…?"  
"I'll… get y' some ice cream once this is over. Ch-Cheer up, okay?"

Cecil nodded.  
"I have money for sundaes. I'll get you that one you always look at in the menu, the chocolate strawberry one."  
Anita bowed her head over, her heart hurting from their condolences, and slowly nodded.

"We all… deserve ice cream."

Lei-Lei only heard Anita, and turned around.  
"Hmm?"  
"Nothing, Lei-Lei," Cecil piped up, since Raptor was too hurt, and Anita too throat-locked.

Lei-Lei found a room, where a little girl, about ten years old, was walking around, crying while she turned various knobs on switchboard panels. She had blonde hair that went down to her waist, had blue eyes, and was overwhelmingly adorable and kind-looking.

However, Lei-Lei had been tricked before by B.B. Hood, so she stood her ground.

"Hello," Lei-Lei said, before she was cut off by the girl crying more.

"Nothing works…"  
Lei-Lei tilted her head confusedly.  
"What are you meaning?"  
"F-F-Four years ago, my brother… he fell asleep. I'm trying... to wake him up…"  
She continued crying.

"He won't… wake up…!"

Anita felt a huge jab to her heart, and her purple eyes became incredibly narrow.

'_Please, Doctor. My mother won't wake up. She had those dots all over her body, but that was just a darker version of chickenpox! Chickenpox doesn't make you go to sleep, does it, Doctor? I clanged the pots and pans together, but it doesn't work.'_

Anita covered her mouth, and looked away from the little blonde girl; she feared she would start crying in depression.

"Please, Miss," the girl cried out in despair, "Help me bring him back…"  
"What's… your name?"  
Raptor looked between both Anita and Lei-Lei; both were frozen solid by the little girl's pleas.

"My name is Emily," she said. "Father made Victor, and then he made me so that Victor wasn't sad."  
Emily looked up at the bulky, 7-foot man that sat by the side of the bed; he was quite obviously expired, but he wasn't rotting, and there was a fixed, almost happy expression on his face.

"Please…"

[[Author's Endnote: Raptor being so nice to Anita makes my heart hurt with its underlying desperation.

Also, the 'darker chickenpox' that was mentioned in Anita's flashback was actually measles.]]


	37. Mother?

[[Author's Note: Lighthearted-ish chapter! Heheheh. I love these.]]

_If I lose, I die.  
I must win._

Anita regretted ever having pointing out that window; for, by now, the blonde girl in the whitish brown dress had moved her so considerably that she had no choice, she had no willpower to fight against it.

She once remembered that, alongside two women who she barely remembered, Anita had saved Donovan; her caretaker, her mentor, her _father_, all before he went insane due to his bad blood.

Anita was indeed cursed by fate; like how Cassandra was fated with prophecy, but the lack of anyone's trust. She hated having access to such power, it made her so _responsible _in the framework of the world [not to mention shunned].

Going against all selfish judgments, and the dark wishes of Raptor and Cecil, Anita crept next to the grey-skinned behemoth. She knew she must do this; she would not let fate torture the poor Emily like it had to Anita herself.

Anita did not believe in 'misery hurts less when it is shared'.

Anita held Victor's cold, huge hand in hers; she could sense what would be used to bring him back [much simpler than one would think], and she let a heavy current of psychic electricity run from her body into Victor's.

Victor's hand slowly became warm, and, to the shock of everyone, he slowly woke up, looking around.

"E….Emily…"

The brother and sister embraced each other, finally reconciled.  
"Victor…"  
Emily pointed to the four 'newcomers'.

"These people helped me. She brought you back to life," she said, pointing to Anita.

"So, you are… my mother?", Victor said, still somewhat confused.

"No," Anita replied simply. The last thing she needed was this man following her around like a duckling.

"I knew it! See, Emily? We were made naturally, like other children."  
Anita stiffened; she did not want to crush their hopes, so, sighing, she nodded.

"Yes, I am your mother."

Victor and Emily were heavily reassured by this, and then Anita looked to them.  
"Do you… know a man named Bishamon? Cursed armor?"  
"Yes," Victor said. "He lives in Japan; Akabira, Sorachi subprefecture, Hokkaido. He lives there with his wife Orin to live in solitude. He suggested for me to use my life to restore Emily, and I am positive he lives there still."

Emily took out a photo from an album titled 'FRIENDS', with the 'R' backwards on accident.

"That's our man," Lei-Lei said triumphantly. "He will definitely know where we should go…"  
"What's the rush?" Cecil said. "Why not tour around with us some more?"  
"Yes," Lei-Lei said. "I will. If we see him, I'll really quickly ask him who did it, and then I'll leave with you guys."

Anita felt comforted, as did the other two, but Raptor treated her to ice cream anyways.

'I promised', he had said.

Anita didn't mind being selfish just this once.

For one, it was a kind gesture.  
On the other hand, it was really good ice cream.

[[Endnote: Anita's 'dream sundae' would be shown in an illustration as a mint-chocolate-chip sundae. Sadly, you cannnot see that right now, as I plan to do chapter-illustrations after it's finished.]]


	38. I'm a clown! Smile!

[[Author's Note: Yes, you are right. She didn't like the idea of being 'coupled' with a dead guy who she doesn't know, but she doesn't want Emily and Victor to be sad, since Emily reminds Anita of herself.

Also: how Victor memorized Bishamon's correct location? We'll never know.]]

_You've lost to the rest, now you've lost to the best!_

Oddly, the combination of metal and catgirls as a double-act seemed to be very great for the audience [which she suspected were frustrated teenage boys], so they were both much more successful than thought.

"Look, Anita!", Lei-Lei said to Anita one day. "Your idea has led to Felicia's charity booming!"  
Anita seemed slightly disquieted by something, and she turned to Lei-Lei.  
"We're in Hokkaido, right?"  
"Yes."  
"…so… this is it?"  
Lei-Lei felt something tighten in her chest, which she interpreted as excitement.  
"Yeah! After this, our souls can go to rest. It sucks living undead, you know."  
Anita 's shoulders slumped.

"But… what about Cecil and I?"  
"Well, you'll be adults one day! And until then, Raptor will take care of you two."  
Mei-Ling hadn't talked to anyone, not even Lei-Lei, for quite some time.

Lei-Lei thought that Mei-Ling must be as excited as she was, and was too antsy to talk.

Mei-Ling would be proud, anyways, since she hated Raptor. And blood was thicker than water— wait, what? Lei-Lei and Raptor were in a business relationship. His perverted tendencies were merely caused by being so repressed [since he _was_ from the Victorian Era, after all].

Wait, why was she thinking about _that_?

She needed to practice her lines!

In watching some performances, and memorizing the singing parts, Lei-Lei was more than prepared to take on the stage, cat-suit or not.

However, one couldn't blame her for being nervous; she had a walk-on role in front of thousands of people, with Mei-Ling so silent and nervous that she wouldn't be guidance.

She had Anita and Cecil's support, though, and that comforted her…

…slightly.

Lei-Lei would sing it over in her head, flip the paper over and sing it in her head, hide the paper and do it perfectly. Today was the night of the performance, and she was hyped. Tomorrow they would leave for Brisbane, and—

_No, no. Mission comes first._

Later on in the flight, Anita looked at Lei-Lei viciously.  
"Cecil was right…!"

"Hmm? Right about what?"  
"…nothing. You wouldn't _understand_."

Save for a few moments of good humor, Lei-Lei had never seen Anita happy. So, to help eliminate that bad record of frowns, Lei-Lei took out three knives.  
"Look, Anita! I'm a clown!"

Lei-Lei stuck her tongue out as she laughed, juggling them expertly.

Anita had tensed, as if she had heard someone say that before, and Lei-Lei put her hand on Anita's shoulder.

"Anita, I'll always watch over you, no need for you to worry. You've been through enough."

Anita's eyes watered.

"…M-Miss Lei-Lei…"

She held onto Lei-Lei, crying. Lei-Lei, flustered and confused, just sat there awkwardly.  
"Uh… it's… okay…?"  
"I don't want you to leave. Cecil doesn't want it, and Raptor doesn't either…!"  
"Anita," Lei-Lei said calmly, "you must learn that everyone one day will say goodbye to each other, and then meet each other in death. It's how the cycle works."  
Anita was still not happy, and stayed glum throughout the flight.

When Lei-Lei was stuffed into her cat costume, she was quite pleased to notice that the ears and tail matched her skin color, so she wouldn't look as silly.  
Well, she didn't want to mention the copious amounts of sparkly doodads here and there on the weird maid-swimsuit-esque dress, but she didn't mind.

Overall, her throat locked on some singing parts, but in the solo-note wave, when it was her turn, Lei-Lei was amazed to find that she could do it well.

With her appearance in Felicia's play, interest of the 'blue girl' skyrocketed even further, and images of her appeared in every magazine. There were some 'eyewitness accounts' [one she recognized as Talbain's younger adopted son], and the charity gained higher-than-expected-level funding.

The play a success, and Sister Felicia more than proud of the jiang-shi, Lei-Lei felt comfort; being on Sister Felicia's friend list would make Mei-Ling proud of having Lei-Lei as her sister.

Cecil and Anita were given money to go watch a movie or two while Lei-Lei, Raptor, Felicia, and a 'special guest' were to celebrate at a bar.

Lei-Lei made a solemn vow that she wouldn't consume any alcohol, since she knew Raptor would, and she wasn't legal anyways [she was technically 20 years old, and 16 in physical age]. She knew this would be their last hoorah, so she decided to not hold back on her fun intake.

Lei-Lei still swore off alcohol, though.

[[Author's Endnote: Hahahah, Lei-Lei as a catgirl…

Holy crap, I beat my record! 5 submissions in one day!

Also, we notice here that Lei-Lei has some insecurities surrounding her acceptance by her sister.]]


	39. You're Acting Like An Idiot

[[Author's Note: Yay humorous/slightly fluffy chapter.

I found the oddly appropriate Darkstalkers quote here on pure accident! It's Felicia's 'personal quote'.]]

_How can everyone be happy?_

The bar had an optimistic atmosphere, and it was chock-full of light, music, and drunk people. And they were all happy drunks, and weren't in arguments with each other! Felicia must have chosen the place carefully.

"I didn't come here mainly to drink," Felicia said to Raptor. "I heard the oysters here are really good."  
"Ah. I like those, I guess… I 'ad them when I was a kid, but they weren' well-made."  
Felicia tilted her head in curiousity.

"Oh, you tasted gourmet after the red carpet?"

"…wot?"

"You had pleasantries only after you became famous."

Raptor was slightly irritated by that.  
"…y' coul' say tha'."

Lei-Lei was overwhelmingly nervous; Raptor found it kind of cute.  
"Th-There are people looking at me weird…"

"That's because you're famous. You are a _star!_" Felicia replied. "Revel in it. The stars that burn the brightest often short out first. Raptor and I are lucky, so I guess we're… suns?"  
"Suns burn out too, y'kna'…", Raptor said, mumbling.

"Okay, then! A black hole!"  
Raptor covered his forehead with his hand in the sheer patheticness of it all.

Suddenly a heavily cloaked figure appeared in the doorway, and then sat next to Felicia.  
Lei-Lei was puzzled by the 'mystery man' [he could tell], but Raptor recognized him instantly.  
"…'Ey, y' furry."

The man flinched.  
"H-How—?"

"Stars don't have many friends that aren't in production," Felicia said glumly. "I know the both of you since you both saved me. Well, Jon, you saved me twice, technically."  
Raptor, who was growing steadily more awkward in Felicia's steadily-more-obvious double date, looked for his drink, but then noticed it was missing.

He then saw Lei-Lei, and his eyes widened.

_Oh, no._

"Y'know, Raptooor… since when do IBC root beers taste this funny?"  
Lei-Lei gave out a very loud giggle, and then went for Felicia's and Jon's.

Felicia, horrified, pulled the half-empty second bottle away from Lei-Lei.

"Now, young lady…"

Lei-Lei stretched out her cheeks.  
"Phhbbbbt!"

Raptor hit his head on the table; he had intended to ask Lei-Lei something very important tonight, as she was about to leave, but…

"Hey, Raptoooor! Isn't your name like a dinosaur's?"  
She was _tanked_.

Raptor prided himself on being quite gentlemanly, and he abstained from drinking that night [no matter how foolish Felicia and Lei-Lei were acting], since he didn't want his _urges_ to drive him to take advantage of the drunk—

"I just noticed, why does my hair curl inwards riiiiight…. there and here?"

Scratch that, _heavily_ drunk Lei-Lei.

"I asked for an IBC root beer and got a… uh… 'Red Stripe'."  
Raptor had finally decided that enough foolishness was enough, and he wouldn't let Lei-Lei humiliate herself any further; no doubt her sister wasn't intervening.

He grabbed her wrist, but she broke away.

"No way, Straaanger Danger!"  
Raptor angrily picked Lei-Lei up around her stomach, with one arm, and he walked outside.

"Heeeey! What's that _for!_"  
"Lei-Lei, y' actin' like an idiot."

He placed her in her seat [and had to buckle her in, since she was gonna get up and leave], and revved up the car.

"Before I go an' pick up Anita and Cecil, I'm gonna drop y' off in th' hotel. Y' only lucky tha' they won' see y' in th' oth' hotel room."

He could be mean to Lei-Lei when she was like this; she wasn't the Lei-Lei he was so unrequitedly in love with, so why bother to impress her?

Lei-Lei began to sniff as they drove on in the dark.  
"You know, Raptor, I hate this mission of mine."  
Raptor gave her a sideways glance, faking interest.  
"Oh? Why is tha'?"  
"I don't wanna leave."  
Raptor nodded.  
"Yeh, yeh, Hokkaido. Mission and all."  
"I'll look him up in the phone books early in the morning. Then I'll take a break from my mission and watch you play Sacrifice in Brisbane!"

Raptor's eyebrows twitched in false hope, since he realized milliseconds lateer of her current state.

"Lei-Lei, go t' sleep. Y' drunk."

"You've never performed it anywhere else we've been to…"

She rolled over in her seat, so that her resting body faced the window.  
"…and what's sad is that one's my favorite…"

Raptor jumped.  
"F-Fav'rite?"  
"Yeah. I listened to your stuff in high school while Mei-Ling listened to Felicia. It's pretty ironic, huh? But Mei-Ling never wanted me to mention it… she said you'd… get ideas or something."

At this, Lei-Lei fell asleep, and Raptor's head hurt worse than ever.

[[Endnote: Sixth consecutive! I'm on a _roll_.

Kids, do not make Lei-Lei's mistake! Whenever you see a brown bottle, be sure it says 'IBC' or 'Sarsaparilla' on it.]]


	40. Words Hard To Say, Harder To Swallow

[[Author's Note: Thren's Swingin' Report Show! Speeeeecial Broadcast!

Okay, this is all I'm posting for today. I'm gonna go to sleep now…

C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKEEER!

Maximum combo: 7 chapters in one day.]]

_Joined body and soul, as twins we wander the Dark Dimension._

"I've found him," Lei-Lei had said, "and I can't sway my course now."

She waved the little notebook paper listing Bishamon's address triumphantly.  
Throughout her body, though, she regretted her dedication. If only she could wait another few days, this moment wouldn't have to happen.

_Curse my impatience_, Lei-Lei thought to herself casually. _Oh well. Goodbyes are inevitable; one curse of immortality is that only other immortals give you companionship._

Raptor had gone along with her choice [as it was her decision, and their business deal was technically over], and the children were accustomed to goodbyes.

Well, Cecil was, at least.

"No!", Anita said, thrashing violently while Cecil used all of his strength to hold her back by her arms.  
The scene of the prim-looking young lady thrashing about and bawling made passerby sad, and some watched.  
"I won't let you go. You'll die, I know it!"  
Cecil wasn't saying anything, though the look on his face read that he was pained as well.

"Come on, Anita," Raptor said solemnly. "Fligh' leaves soon."  
Anita looked up at Raptor, incredulous.  
"How can you say that?!"

Raptor lit a cigarette.  
"Lei-Lei isn't bound by anythin' to even technically _talk _t' me anymore. Or you, or Cecil."  
"Yes," Mei-Ling said, turning into human form and tugging at Lei-Lei's arm limply; this was her first response to anything since Lei-Lei had resolved to leave Raptor, Anita and Cecil to pursue the killer. "O-Our deal is… over."

Mei-Ling walked up to Anita, and, crying, wrapped her ethereal arms around the young girl, who was touched. And, much to Cecil's embarrassment, she embraced him too.

Lei-Lei looked up at Raptor, and, eager to say something, she walked up to him.  
She did not know what she wanted to say _exactly_, but it begged to be said.  
Looking up into Raptor's eyes, her throat locked shut.  
"I-I… Raptor, I…"

Raptor seemed to relax, and he grinned, the cigarette clenched firmly between his teeth.  
"Yeh?"

She erased the blush from her face and smiled.  
"…take care of them, will ya?"  
Part of Raptor seemed to turn deathly cold at her sudden change of words.  
"Eh… sure."  
Mei-Ling said nothing again, which made Lei-Lei uncomfortable; she was hoping that at least her twin sister would support her decision. Lei-Lei herself didn't even like it, but her devotion to her mission and her parent's memory overrode anything.

"I have to redeem our souls, sister. Only then will we rest in peace."

~*~

As the jetplane headed off towards Brisbane, the quintet-turned-trio was devastated.

The kids Anita and Cecil endured it together [as usual], but Raptor, unused to abandonment in such a manner, was suffering severely. While Anita and Cecil had been shunned by fate [the deaths of parents, and general seclusion by society], Raptor had always been more than just well-liked and famous, and he was just... not used to someone leaving him alone by a method besides death. Sure, he overthrew any masters of his in his lust for power, but this was much more painful.

Anita knew this, as she had a way with people [though they didn't have a way with her].

"Raptor," Anita said timidly as she entered the room. "I made you some tea."  
"Calming-type?"  
"Yes."  
"Well, y' two can 'ave it."  
He stood, masking his sadness with a grin.  
"I'm a metal musician, remember? I need t' be furious, or forlorn. Y'kna, the odd things."

He rubbed his forehead with his hand, the seperation obviously still hurting him, and Anita embraced him.  
"It's okay, Raptor. We'll be cheering you on from backstage; not in the crowd, obviously. The paparazzi would assault us within a moment's notice."

"Thanks, Anita. Y' a pretty decent kid, y' kna' that?"

~*~

Lei-Lei found the small apartment complex where Bishamon lived entirely by himself with his wife.

She knocked on the door, handds shivering with excitement.  
"Excuse me…"

[[Endnote: For those who didn't get 'Thren's Swingin' Report Show! Speeeeecial Broadcast!', it's a parody of Report 2 from Space Channel 5 Part 2.

'Super-successful rescue!'

And no, the fanfic isn't over. Lol.]]


	41. Let's Cut A Rug, My Ladybug

[[Author's Note: Thanks as usual, Knight25, and any other lurkers!

Title is a reference to a kids' movie song that will be referenced in the chapter/explained in the endnote.]]

_Run, Orin!_

Bishamon was as the picture detailed; a tall, adult man, brunette, with a bamboo, conical hat and black Japanese robes.

He looked incredibly distressed, as his eyes were glazed over, and he was choking back sobs.  
"…y-yes?"  
"I came here for information, but… seriously, what's wrong?"

He looked at Lei-Lei bitterly.

"The last time I gave information, I put myself in my current predicament."

Bishamon rubbed his temples as he sat down in a chair.  
"If I don't find a blue girl with claws, and a blue man with yellow ribs, Orin… my Orin…"  
He then looked Lei-Lei over again, and stood, resolute.

"You! You and your blue-skinned accomplice, please, you must apologize to That Girl. If not, my wife, my Orin, she'll…"  
He covered his face with his hand.

Lei-Lei had an idea of who he was talking about; many sources about Bishamon listed him as a man who sought peace with his wife Orin. He suspected that this Orin was indeed very important to him, and that her safety would earn Lei-Lei his trust.

"Listen; tell me the 'hand-off ransom point', and I'll get her back. Tell me who stole your armor, I don't break a promise."

Bishamon thought about this.  
"If she goes to such lengths to get you under control, then you must be very strong."  
He handed Lei-Lei an address.

"Give me my Orin back, and I'll tell you everything I know."  
Lei-Lei hesitated in taking the paper, and looked Bishamon in the eyes.

"_Do_ you know who stole it?"

"Face, name, _location_… everything you need to know."

His eyes looked honest, and Lei-Lei figured it was worth a shot; she took the paper.

"Good! I can finally avenge myself."  
As she was about to exit the apartment building, Bishamon reached out to her.  
"Wait… What do you mean, 'avenge yourself'?"  
"My sister, my parents, and myself, we all died by the hands of that armor's wearer. So, yes, I'm a Chinese ghost. I can pack a punch, don't get me wrong."

She exited proudly, and Mei-Ling appeared to Bishamon. Bowing, she smiled earnestly.  
"Don't worry, Bishamon. We'll be back."

Lei-Lei stuck her head in the door, and nervously laughed.

"Oh, by the way, what does Orin, uh, look like?"

~*~

The address led to a huge, locked storeroom labeled 'Yer Bullet-iful, Baby'; as Lei-Lei had never heard of such a company, she assumed the ransom was to fund a bullet company about to hit the tank.

She busted open the lock, but then noticed a large amount of lasers in the hallway.

Lei-Lei knew about B.B. Hood's deceptions, and then, tempting fate, she climbed into an air vent [like in the movies], and dropped down a spiked ball on the laser.

Instead of an alarm going off, or the spiked ball just passing through, it was _sliced in half_.  
Then the laser turned into a grid, and became more thick and dicing that the ball was turned into powder.

"O-Oh. Oh oh oh. M-Mei-Ling, somehow I don't think mirrors will work."  
_**Be lucky**_, Mei-Ling responded, _**that you didn't walk through them, that it was escapable, and that it didn't trip security.**_

A huge, hulky man walked through, holding a shotgun on his arm. He wore colonial clothing, oddly, and was about Victor's size.

_**Damn, I talked too soon.**_

_At least he won't find us up here!_, Lei-Lei thought.

Mei-Ling thought about this, and then flew down the vent in paper form. A shotgun blast was heard, and Mei-Ling flew back to Lei-Lei's head, shaking from horror.

"A bloody rat…", the man said.

_We both shouldn't jinx ourselves like this, _Lei-Lei decided_._

_**No joke…**_

[[Endnote: The pun [I love making them] 'Yer Bullet-iful, Baby' comes from B.B. Hood's English and Japanese names [**Baby** Bonnie Hood and **Bullet**a].  
'Yer Beautiful Baby' is the name of a song from the Thumbelina kids' movie, which I added in for no real reason besides that song being awesome. I guess it could be like how B.B. Hood relates to childhood, and… nah, I'm just making stuff up. Before the Thumbelina reference, it was just 'Bullet Baby'.]]


	42. Orin

_First your eyes! Then your ears! And then, the head!_

As they climbed down and traipsed through the hallway, they kept Lei-Lei's heartbeat and walking constant; who knew what other audiovisual sensors were in this place?

Lei-Lei and Mei-Ling had kept a steady tempo, and Lei-Lei would reassure herself by counting.

_52…53… 54…_

_**Look!**_, Mei-Ling said, snapping Lei-Lei out of it.

Lei-Lei jumped, and almost tripped a laser.

_**Sorry, but… look!**_, Mei-Ling said.

Mei-Ling drifted onto a glass tube, sticking herself to it.

"Nice flier impersonation." Lei-Lei said in a harsh whisper.

Mei-Ling flapped her corner on a certain part of the glass; upon closer inspection, one could see the shape of… a hand.

"Is it…?!"

Lei-Lei tapped on the glass with her finger, and a small yellow light flicked on nearby, showing the figure of an adult woman.

It was indescribable how beautiful the woman was; she had skin the color of her white kimono, and black hair that was black, long, and silky, like from any shampoo commercial. Lei-Lei just sat there for a minute, gaping at the inhumane beauty of this Orin; her description was 'pale, black hair, and the most beautiful woman in the world', but Lei-Lei figured he was sugarcoating that last part.

Mei-Ling reattached herself to Lei-Lei's head.

…_**O-Okay, let's get back to business; how do we free her?**_, Mei-Ling commented.

_Oh!_, Lei-Lei said, snapping out of it. _Almost forgot the, err, mission._

Lei-Lei used her claw to scratch on the glass; amazingly, it gave, and she made a perfect, almost cartoon-like circle on the glass, forming a window.

Lei-Lei's sleeves held the separated circle, slowly easing it onto the ground.

She used her real arms to heave Orin out, making sure not to harm a single ridiculously-well-cared-for hair on her model-grade head.

_Man_, Lei-Lei said. _Bishamon's got quite the looker for a wife! No wonder she's so precious to him._

_**They must be an adorable couple, she looks so shy…**_, Mei-Ling thought, then mentally shook her head. _**Either way, we have to wake her up.  
**_

"Miss!", Lei-Lei said, very quietly. Lei-Lei began to shake her. "Orin?"

"Dearest, is that you…?", Orin said, very tiredly.

_**P-Perfect relationship!**_, Mei-Ling said, appalled at those four words [especially the first one]. _**It's like the type seen in romance novels..!**_

"No," Lei-Lei said, "but he sent me here to save you, since he couldn't do so himself."  
Orin opened one black eye, which was tearing up with what seemed to be hope.

"Please… tell me you are not lying, as I will curse you with generations of hatred if you betray me…"  
"We need information from Bishamon, and he told me to save you in return for it. Also…"  
Lei-Lei looked at Orin very seriously.  
"...I want to know what shampoo you use."  
Orin tilted her head in confusion, slightly scrunching up her serene expression.

"What are you talking about?"

The yellow light from before became brighter to show the form of a young fish-like creature, and a few others placed along the room lit up.

As Lei-Lei looked around, more and more Darkstalkers were in cages alongside Orin.

"Please," the first light-fish-thing said, "help us…"

[[Endnote: Orin is quite the article.

And no, Lei-Lei isn't a lesbian/bisexual, she was just shocked and, err, distracted. The term for such things is 'Stupid Sexy Flanders', according to TVTropes.

If Morrigan were to find out about Orin, she'd be jealous.]]


	43. La Belle Dame Sans Merci

[[Author's Note: Yes, yes, I even did research on my least favorite Darkstalker. I like being canonically correct, you know.

Forgive me for being so eager to finish these chapters; it's just that the end is so... close…]]

_These unworthy customers piss me off!_

Since a red siren was signaling their possible impending doom, Lei-Lei and Orin were fighting against time to free the other Darkstalkers from this twisted horror.

_Never have I felt such compassion for monsters_, Lei-Lei thought.

_**Maybe it's because we're becoming ones ourselves.**_

_What?_, Lei-Lei said, confused. _Sister, what do you mean?_

There was no reply, which was more than a little unsettling.

Lei-Lei freed a series of small fish-children; on closer inspection, they resembled someone she knew.

_Yellow, green, with fins and human-like features..._, she thought.

The eldest of the fifteen fishchildren held out his webbed hand.

"My name is Ricky, prince of one of the two deep-sea kingdoms."

"I know your father," Lei-Lei said somewhat bitterly.  
"Oh! I never heard of you!"  
"He tried to kill me," Lei-Lei said somewhat indifferently. "I'll save you, obviously, but I want you to tell your father to not be such a jerk to us."

Ricky nodded shyly, and then looked around.  
"There are some who have been subjected to the Yellow Lady, and their bodies w-will be used for… decoration…"  
He pointed to some very obviously dead Darkstalkers, some of which were recognizable as Bigfoot.

Lei-Lei held back the urge to throw up at the idea of someone decorating their home with these poor creatures, and freed a trio of wolfmen.

"Who is the Yellow Lady?"

"A scary woman with wings… she eats their 'life nectar', or something. She's accompanied by the Belle Dame."

Lei-Lei was becoming aggravated with Ricky's fancy terms for people, and she helped yank a cat woman free from her bonds.

"And the Belle Dame is…?"

Ricky pointed to a portrait on a wall.

It was magnificently framed, and, although it looked old, the thick glass pane and hand-etched frame was polished to a blinding sheen. The painting showed an old, kindly Japanese woman and a young blonde girl.

Ricky started helping with freeing the others, and nodded in understanding.

"The younger one is the Belle Dame. She hates the wolf men, and they're often the first to have their 'life nectar' sucked out by the Yellow Lady. She feeds the Yellow Lady, and the Yellow Lady brings us here… I heard she came from that Other Place Father sometimes talks about, 'Makai'."

The 'Belle Dame' herself appeared in the hallway at that time, usually-basketed uzi in hand. She looked almost clam, as if she had expected this.  
"_You_…!," she said, pointing to Lei-Lei. "I bet you wondered why I have my main base here in Fukugawa instead of Britain! My grandma's cottage stood on this _veeeery_ spot… until a monster killed her for no reason."

Orin was angry at this foolishness.

"So you use your grandmother's memory as a place to abuse—, no, _kill_, Darkstalkers who did nothing?"  
B. B. Hood spat on the ground maliciously, grinning in a way that could only be registered as pure evil.

"She would be proud to be the founder of a multi-million dollar industry!"  
Lei-Lei ignored B. B. Hood's attempts at justifying her inhumane behavior, and turned to Ricky.

"Get them out of here."  
Ricky's eyes widened.  
"B-But… Miss—!"  
"_Hurry!_"  
Ricky hesitantly nodded, and ran out of the front door.

"Everyone, follow me!"  
The ones in other languages seemed to understand, and they fled.

As B.B. Hood couldn't afford to kill them [as her agreement with the 'Yellow Lady' would be void], she roared, stomping her feet.

"I would have lived off the royalties forever! Now all that I have is my usual income…!"  
B.B. Hood pointed her uzi at Orin, her eyes growing cold.  
"_Your ransom is unnecessary._"  
Orin looked fearless, but Lei-Lei wanted that information, so she moved in the way, deflecting it with a claw.

B.B. Hood snapped the fingers on both hands three times.

"Missus Q!"

Q-Bee appeared out of a hell-portal, confused; she was about to lunge for Lei-Lei, due to their prior meeting, but was halted by B.B. Hood's words.

"_This_ _monster_," B.B. Hood said slowly [so Q-Bee would understand], "_stole your dinner for herself._"

"Blueberry not only that," Q-Bee replied. "She escape my mouth once in Motherland. She escape hive, she tricky-tricky. In human world, she not tricky-tricky, I win."

Q-Bee then rested her wings, and, making an unusually insect-like writhing motion with her hands, raised one hand up. Her wings fluttered in their resting position, and a huge portal opened.

Dozens upon hundreds of similar bee-women came out, all of them cooing and giggling due to a lack of knowledge concerning their surroundings.  
They had a steady chant of 'must die' and 'eat, eat, eat', like that time a year ago; it hurt Lei-Lei's heart as she remembered how she had used last-minute thinking to save herself and Raptor from them.

_Raptor…_, she thought, but then shook the thought from her mind. He wasn't important enough to think about at a time like this.

Orin fainted, and Lei-Lei's sleeves picked her up as she began to run in a mad-dash down the street.

"Oh, no! Why now?!"

[[Author's Endnote: I still love Q-Bee's dialogue.]]


	44. Kills Bees DEAD!

[[Author's Note: For those curious, I base Raptor's personality off of how he is in the canon games and anime. He's not as, err, _lively _as he is in NamcoxCapcom.

His voice is obviously the dub one from the anime, since the one in the game has no accent, and that makes me depressed.]]

_Your soul looks tasty._

_We have to think fast_, Lei-Lei thought sadly.  
They were running out of time; Lei-Lei would be exhausted, and her soul would be divided among who knows how many bees. Mei-Ling's presence probably made her seem all the more appetizing, since it made Lei-Lei look twice the size.

A portion of food on a small plate looks bigger than it would on a large plate.

It wasn't really a Chinese proverb, it was scientifically-proven dietary information known by every woman to ever have weight problems [or think they had them].

Needless to say, the teensy 5'0 Lei-Lei would look like a carp on a dessert plate— instead of a carp on a platter— to these bee-women.

They wouldn't eat B.B. Hood's soul; not only was it 'black as charcoal', but she had them wrapped around her finger.

B.B. Hood had an army, and Lei-Lei had absolutely nothing to do about it.

She ran inside of a department store [abandoned due to the huge swarm of unexplainable bee-women], and looked through the shelves. If she turned off the lights, they'd find her by scent; if she covered herself in air freshener or deodorant, they'd still tell by the scent path.

Lei-Lei also realized that they were more voracious than locusts, as their hunger chants grew louder and louder as they persisted; she saw people run in horror and actually escape from detached members of the swarm; could it be that they were so desperate for food that they'd work for B.B. Hood, a monster?

She thought about any possible products that'd help. Would fire work?

Lei-Lei lit a tiki torch on fire, and swung it in a broad arc towards the closest assailant.

"Hah-HAH!"

The bug looked at it with a dull expression, and it did not even singe the gray hairs on her head.

Lei-Lei shrieked, and then ran into other aisles.

"Take this!"

_**I heard about that one in elementary school**_, Mei-Ling commented.

She had pointed a janitor's abandoned water hose at the nearest one with one hand, and dishwasher soap sprayed into it with the other one.

It didn't destroy the waxy skin of the P-Bee and drown it, like demonstrated for regular bees. Instead, she purred due to the nice bath, primping her gray hair in odd self-confidence.

"Damn!"

_**Lei-Lei, aisle 15!**_

Following Mei-Ling's orders, Lei-Lei dashed inside, and saw shelf upon shelf of brightly-colored spraycan.

_You're a genius, Sis_, Lei-Lei thought, giggling to herself.

_**Yeah, yeah, I know, **_Mei-Ling replied._** I'll sign autographs after this mess.**_

She took two purple bottles of Raid from the shelf, uncapping them.  
"EAT PESTICIDE!"

_**Why are you sounding like a corny superheroine?**_, said Mei-Ling, sighing to herself.

_It's a childhood dream._

Sprayed with the chemicals, the experimental P-Bee fell, having an erratic seizure. It began to foam from its human-like mouth and fake eyes on its face, and its stinger deattached, leaking its innards.

Lei-Lei gaped in horror at the spectacle, as did the dead P-Bee's hivemates, who fled away to Makai.

Her army fleeing [with one dead], and no other method possible of killing the interloper, the Belle Dame [who had followed, along with her seven-foot-tall shotgun-weilding henchman] was not happy.

B.B. Hood took in a great breath, and as she let out her loudest howl yet, her arms and legs flailed in all-out rage as the blood rushed to her face.

"_ARRRRRRR-THUUUUUUUUUUUUUR_!"

[[Endnote: The whole 'does plate size determine how much you eat?' was actually proven on Food Detectives to be pathological.

The Raid reference actually made me laugh. It may not be funny to you guys, but eh.

Also, BBHood's 'ARTHUUUR' scene was based off of Darla Dimple's screeching of 'MAAAAX!' in Cat's Don't Dance. Both characters are cute little blonde-haired/blue-eyed cutiepies who are absolutely EVIL. Darla prefers pink instead of red, though.

HAHAH YOU THOUGHT ME REFERENCING RAPTOR BEFORE MEANT HE'D BE IN HERE, DIDN'T YOU?!

Can anyone say 'bait-and-switch'? Hey-ohhhh!]]


	45. Le Malta Shows Them

_Return to the darkness shade! We shall not be denied our vengeance!_

There comes a point in everyone's life where intuition tells you something has gone horribly wrong, or you're face-to-face with death.

Take the case of poor Lei-Lei, who, stuck in a department store with a raving brat and her following adult accomplice, found herself in a horrid predicament.

The seven-foot-tall man with the shotgun, John [as B.B. Hood identified him], pointed at Lei-Lei and laughed.

"Arthur's better'n I am. Yer dead meat, girly."  
"She's a zombie," B.B. Hood corrected, calming down slowly.  
"Well, deader than undead!"

_**What is it with people and that phrase?**_, Mei-Ling commented angrily.

Lei-Lei did not care; the man who stood over them was a good eight or nine feet, and he was heavily armed. Lei-Lei's legs were weak, and she felt herself grow much lighter; was it adrenaline?

Meanwhile, the _real_ reason for her feeling lighter had slithered out from her huge bow. He perched himself on a telephone pole, and stretched his body up to the wall, where he hijacked a security camera.  
Fiddling with the settings, upgrading the quality, and uploading.

Oh, how he uploaded it.

The camera-hacker had broadcasted the live feed from several cameras across the world, taking over screens all over. Though he had to restrain himself, he kept the center of the video on Lei-Lei.

He always _was_ good with special effects, but, as usual, he wasn't appreciated for it.

_Boss'll be proud of me for this one!_, he thought.

Arthur turned to B.B. Hood; his voice was deafeningly loud.  
"_Yeeees, Miss Hoooood_?"

B.B. Hood pointed to Lei-Lei very innocently.  
"Please _take care of her_ for me," she giggled. "Preferably tied up and gagged with her own sleeves."

Arthur picked Lei-Lei up by the neck, and then threw her down once he examined her face.

"_Buuuuut, Miss Hoooood, her family paaaaid the deeeebt_."

B.B. Hood froze.  
"Wh-What?... "

Lei-Lei looked up at Arthhur, her head hurting from what she had just seen.

"The only people you've ever even hurt were the Forrest family, since they didn't pay! Everyone else paid; and even then, I ordered you to just roughen them up. You… didn't kill anyone, did you?"

Arthur stretched open a portal using some sort of illegal, stolen-from-the-government device, and B.B. Hood shrieked.  
"_No_, Arthur! Don't use the secret weapon, it's far too dangerous!"

Lei-Lei was immobilized.

His nametag read 'ARTHUR WESSON', which triggered a nerve in her brain.

'"_A man came to our village in armor like that. But he was not Japanese, he was ethnicity of people below us. His name wasn't Bishamon. His last name had… two 's' letters in it. That's all I know."'_

ARTHUR WE**SS**ON.

_**Undercapitalize his first name!, **_Mei-Ling said; they were having a simultaneous epiphany that only twin sisters could have.

Arthur WE**SS**ON.

_**What does 'rt' look like?**_

It all flooded Lei-Lei's mind in a whirl of joyous discovery and vile, bitter truth.

'"_I see… Don't let anyone know, but in some files I reread about him and said armor, the name of its possessor was blurred out intensively, but somewhere in the middle, I could see 'R.R'."_

A**rt**hur WE**SS**ON**.**

"Oh, _no!_," Orin shrieked. "Not _that!_"

No sooner had Lei-Lei snapped out of it [via Orin's shriek] that Arthur pulled out, and donned, a large suit of blue armor; it did not fit him, but it seemed to supernaturally morph to fit his body.

"Blooooood-luuuuust… un-queeeeench-ah-bull…"

Meanwhile, people all over the nation watched in horror as the odd Elvis-like icon, the blue girl was thrown across department store aisles by the hulking Hannya-victim.

Meanwhile, as he waited in horrible anxiety for any news of Orin, Bishamon paced back and forth throughout his living room. He saw his wife's face on the television helping the blue girl from the man in armor, and spat out his coffee.  
"Wh-What in the—?!"

In Brisbane, Raptor was resting slightly between songs, talking into the microphone as he rested his voice.

"And, I only wish that one per—"

He was interrupted by Anita running onstage; this was so unexpected by the crowd that everyone was deathly silent.

"Raptor, we have a message from Le Malta!"

"Wot?!"

The camera flipped from focusing on Anita [as she was talking] to the broadcast, which, oddly, also had audio.

"_I must… keeeeeeeeell the iiin-tuuuuhr-lohhhhh-pperrrrr…", Armored Arthur said, to B.B. Hood's [pictured] horror. _

"No…", Anita said quietly.

[[Author's Endnote: Arthur's dialogue is also based off of Cat's Don't Dance, since Max, who is like 70 feet tall, talks very loudly and slowly. His first line is 'Yeeeeeees, Miss Diiiimplllle?'.

It's a great movie, you should all check it out!

Also, if you don't get the 'rt' = 'rr' thing, write an undercapitalized 't' in horrible handwriting. Now, can you really tell if it's an 'r' or a 't'? Poor Demon-Butler had horrible, handwritten reports from those bats...]]


	46. Bleak Outlook, Possibly Bleak Outcome

_Don't you have any sympathy for the dead?_

The crowd continued to watch, transfixed by the upcoming cultural icon instantly recognizable by everyone. Some folks thought it was a publicity stunt, but the look on Raptor's face showed it was no such thing [and Raptor was a bad actor].

_Lei-Lei staggered backwards into a cart of soaps. She tried to use it for support as she fell down, but slipped, and fell._

"_Ahhhh…"  
She stood up, and grinned.  
"You didn't think that'd hurt me, did you?"_

The crowd cheered, but this stopped when Lei-Lei was slapped across the face… with a swordhilt.

"_Unnnnngh…" _

_She took out a knife to jab through the armor with, but Armored Arthur knocked it out of her hands easily._

"_Yooooou shoooould knooooooow," Armored Arthur said, "hooooow deeeee-fense-leeeeess you aaaaare near me…"_

_Lei-Lei gritted her teeth.  
"My family… did nothing to you…!"  
"Noooooo, they… had the smeeeeelll of Darkstaaaaalker abooout them."_

The crowd grew more and more suspicious.

"Wait, if she's a Darkstalker, then what about Raptor? They both have that weird skin."

"Maybe they're both evil."  
"I don't know… Maybe Raptor colors his skin like that to look like a Darkstalker. But that one cat play by Felix or whatever her name was had her and the others dunked in a milk saucer, so it's not makeup or dye…"

"Damn, that's hardcore."

"_But theeeeen I realized that you juuuuust weeeeeere, in a paaaast life."_

_Lei-Lei stood, and walked over to him.  
"Then can you tell me about it?"  
She then suddenly lodged a saw in his armor, which pierced, but when she drew it back, there was no blood._

"_Wh-What…?!"_

"_Thaaaaat waaaasn't veeery niiiiice…"_

_He was about to smack Lei-Lei in the face, but Orin pulled her out of the way.  
_

"Whoa!", one audience member said. "Who's the hot chick? Dude, will she and Blue girl make out?"

"Shut up, idiot."

"_Hannya!", she cried. "Why do you seize another soul? First my husband, now a defender of his home country…"_

"_He wanted thiiiis," the mouth on the armor said. "He wants bloooodsheeed. He doesn't __**require**__ convincing…"_

"Holy CRAP that armor's… mouth… is MOVING."

"No duh, Sherlock! Shut up; I wanna watch."

_Lei-Lei then suddenly decided to run. The camera angles did not expect this, so they flipped very quickly between shots of Lei-Lei running. _

"_There, Arthur!" B.B. Hood pleaded. "See? She gave up. Let's just let her go, and kindly take off that armor—"  
B.B. Hood was yanked up, and thrown onto Lei-Lei. B.B. Hood rubbed her cheek in shock at his insubordination; then, she noticed that John, her other henchman, had up and left her to her own devices.  
"J-John… __why__…"  
"RUN!", Lei-Lei cried.  
B.B. Hood easily agreed, and the three females— Orin, B. and Lei-Lei— ran towards the rooftop from the scary Armored Arthur._

_A card came on labeled 'Intermission While They Climb Upstairs'. _

Anita was crying.  
"Raptor, do you think she'll win…?"_  
_Raptor wanted to say the obvious answer, but shook his head.  
"Don't lose faith in 'er, Anita."  
Anita's eyes widened, and she looked back up to the screen again.

Cecil came onto the stage.  
"She has to find a weakness. Raptor, does he have a weakness?"

Raptor looked at Cecil, and then up at the screen again.

"Only against bein's of 'igher power, which Lei-Lei isn't… but I'm not losin' faith in 'er."  
"Why?! The battle's won already! She's _running!_"  
Raptor then tackled Cecil onto the ground, choking him. Anita gasped, shocked at this almost bipolar flip.

"_Don' say tha', y' dipsh*t! Y' always complain, and whine, when Lei-Lei did everything for you! In fact, if it waqsn' f' her, y' two would still be at tha' dump in Las Vegas!_"

Raptor then noticed the dead silence, and, looking around, noticed his crowd was staring.  
"Heheheh…heheh…"  
He stood, and Cecil got up, somewhat crestfallen.  
"G-Go…", Cecil said. "Go Lei-Lei!"  
"Tha's th' spirit!"  
Raptor's words were halted any further, since Lei-Lei was being punched in the stomach on the cement-floored open roof.

_It was dark out, with some thunderclaps, but no rain. Lei-Lei had coughed up blood from the hit._

_Orin cried out.  
"There has to be something! We must seal it!"  
"How?," B.B. Hood cried. "Nothing can seal up something, unless if he were to become someone else's servant!"___

Lei-Lei protected Orin and B.B. Hood from Arthur, and took anotther blow to the gut, and then there was a 'DING!' sound effect, and a card briefly showing a lightbulb.

"I'm a genius," the cameraman said directly to the audience, showing his cartoonish purple-and-red face.

_The outside speakers suddenly got rigged._

"_Oy, hello there, fans…"_

[[Author's Endnote: The 'Raptor is a bad actor' thing comes from episode 5 of the Darkstalkers cartoon, when Harry goes 'Haha, missed me! You dress funny, you can't sing, and you're a _**bad actor!**_'.

You can hear the clip and get episode summaries of the cartoon ., if you're interested.

Also, Harry Grimoire, the boy wizard, came out _before_ Harry Potter. J., you're lucky they don't sue you.]]


	47. Lord Morrigan

[[Author's Note: Oh god I think I did so bad on this one. I don't know whether or not I did, but, uh…  
…this chapter would qualify me as a very odd writer to the folks here, huh?]]

_Let's rock!_

The watchers around the world watched in anticipation for a paln to save the poor blue girl.

"_As you know," the cameraman said from the speakers, "at this moment, in Brisbane, Australia, Raptor is commemorating his world tour with the hit single 'Sacrifice'. However, his performance has been halted by this broadcast. Now… Lei-Lei…"  
Lei-Lei was shocked by this mention of her name, as any sane person would.  
"…yes?"  
"Why not show your… __**dedication**__… to the nobles of Makai, err, I mean, your friend Raptor by singing it in his stead…"_

"Tha' dumbsh*t moth'f***er!" Raptor yelled. "_No!_"  
"What'll happen if she sings it?"  
"_What 'appened th' __**las'**__ time I sang it, dumbass!"_

_Lei-Lei nodded.  
"Might as well."  
"Wait," B.B. Hood said, "we're on TV?!"_

"…_I guess so."  
B.B. Hood stomped around.  
"I look like an idiot in my one shot to stardom. Damn you, Lei-Lei! And you, you pale lady."  
"Remember," the speaker said, "to let your guest here say the last word. It'll be a priveledge!"  
Lei-Lei finally seemed to recognize something, and then eagerly agreed._

"What is that stupid blob goin' on about…?"  
Anita smiled to herself, knowing Le Malta's plan.  
"Let's hope Arthur's a fan of you, Raptor."  
"It has t' be accurately timed for it to work! There's sixteen seconds of silence before the last word. I messed up, and look at me now!"  
Cecil froze.  
"Yeeeeaaaah. No blue skin for me, thanks."

"Huh," one person in the audience said. "This was more entertaining than I thought."  
"It's a nice sideshow to the concert," another said.

"Go Lei-Lei!", yet another shouted.

_Lei-Lei cleared her throat.  
"__**The Earth is so cold, even-in-the-face-of-orders…**__"  
A brightly glowing hell-portal showed signs of conception beneath her feet; Arthur laid transfixed and dumb._

"_**Makai, is wishing, to-expand-its-borders. First step- enslave. Misstep- no escape. Don't forget your saaacriiiifiiice…**__"  
_

Cecil was writhing around laughing [as Lei-Lei's singing was actually very well-done, but the situation made it seem so ridiculous] but Raptor, angry at such insult, picked him up by the back collar of his shirt [like a dog]. He roughly pointed to the magic circle forming underneath Lei-Lei's feet, and

"…_**give-up-your-soul, sacrifice it, it-don't-matter-how-we-swipe-it, give your soul to the Lords-from-not-above, but actually from below."**_

"_You sound like a Satanist!", B.B. Hood scolded.  
Lei-Lei nodded tiredly; she didn't notice the circle, and turned directly to the camera._

"_Come on, Le Marta, this is silly! This isn't working, and I'm probably making Raptor fans angry."  
"Hurry," Le Marta said, "you have to time it right. Drum solo ending in 3… 2… 1…"_

_Lei-Lei sighed and continued._

"_**GIVE YOURSELF TO THE LORDS OF MAKAI!**__"  
Lei-Lei and B.B. Hood were shocked; the backup vocals during that part of the song apparently weren't just special effects._

"_Okay, okay, what the __**HELL**__ is going on here?!", B.B. Hood screeched._

"_It's… a rite," Orin said, stupefied.  
Lei-Lei repeated the lyric [as the song required it], and the weird demon choir joined in once again._

"_What in the—"  
"Hurry," Le Malta said, "Cue, cue, cue!"  
"Th-__**There, is an old belief; the one who sings this song, also has grief. Burn your eyes and flame your gut, grow claws and a mouth never shut—"**_

_Lei-Lei expected the chorus this time, so she went along with it._

"_**Live to be undead!"**_

Inspired by the oddly good cover [regardless of there being no instrumentals besides Lei-Lei tapping her foot] others sang along.

_Lei-Lei continued to sing more from the verse._

"_**Slave evermore, human nevermore, freed of the green tomb that awaits. A life in servitude is a life of gratitude. Polish their boots, clean their floors, the Lord's will is as great as yours…"**_

_The red circle of Arthur's [hopefully] impending doom grew larger and more intricate, and it covered Lei-Lei, and, as more were singing along, it stretched along the world._

The concert hall of singing-along fans began to glow red from beneath, and Cecil, Anita and Raptor watched Lei-Lei, in hope it would happen for her benefit.

_This continued, onto the last verse, and Lei-Lei, feeling triumphant, sang it proudly.  
"__**So finish this prayer and pass it on, succumb to Lord…!"**_

_Lei-Lei remembered in horror that there was no word there to finish the song; had they failed?__**  
**__A huge card was labeled 'Please be silent'._

"_Weeeeell," Arthur said, unimpressed. "Whaaaaat's the laaaast wooord?"  
The cameraman timed himself, and then jumped in front of Arthur's face, holding up a card unseen to the audience and watchers.  
"…__**Morrigan**__…?", Arthur said dumbly, and Le Marta grinned widely to the camera.  
"Boss, I deserve a raise."  
The red circle hurriedly shrunk, concentrating ferociously on Arthur.  
The armor, not hypnotized by the song, cried out in dismay.  
"YOU WITCH! YOU SAID THE SACRIFICIAL RITE!"_

_A portal opened up, and four arms grabbed at Arthur's legs. They emerged to show an adult woman, and one who looked more teenage.  
"Look, Morri!", the slightly shorter purple-haired one said. "A new toy!"  
"Ooooh," Morrigan said in a uncomfortably suggestive voice. "Thank you, Lei-Lei. I always like the __tall__ ones."  
Arthur stared dumbfoundedly.  
"Huuuuuuh?"_

_The armor began to wail in dismay.  
"Not by the succubi! Noooooooooo!"_

_The older one winked at the camera, and blew it a kiss before she and the younger pulled Arthur down into what one could assume as 'Makai'._

_Lei-Lei's eye twitched.  
"Hahahah. Hahahahahah… hah…"  
She fainted, her head hitting the ground with a loud 'thunk'._

"_Miss Lei-Lei!", Orin screamed._

"_Blue-boobed girl!", B.B. Hood said, in an odd display of actual worry._

_A card said 'Thanks for enjoying the show, those of us in production had fun!'._

"Wot th' bloody 'ell, Le Malta!", Raptor roared, horribly concerned.

[[Author's Endnote: Marvel at my horrid songwriting skills! Hahahah… I don't know what beat I was going to.

And this was all inspired by the wish to make a non-clichéd ending, reference 'Sacrifice' sometime in the plot, and, of course, SC5.

'_When have I ever lost… at __**DANCING**__!?_']]


	48. Wake Up

_The immortal spirit of Bushido._

Bishamon bolted to his door when he heard a familiar knock on it.

"Orin!", Bishamon said excitedly, embracing her. "I'm so glad to see you safe…"

"And me for you," Orin said. "But…"  
Orin looked at the blue body that she and B.B. Hood were jointly carrying behind them. Bishamon saw this, and looked shocked.  
"She may be taller than me," B.B. Hood said, "but she's so _fat_."  
"Miss Lei-Lei's heavy," Bishamon corrected," due to her weapons."

Orin flushed; his knowledge of Lei-Lei's name must have been form the supposed 'televise' of the fight.  
"So that incident did broadcast?"

"Yes. I was sad, since you didn't sing…"  
Orin patted his arm.  
"Dearest, it was a metal song! You should know that I don't listen to such things! Heehee."  
"Your voice is lovely either way."

B.B. Hood rolled her eyes very obnoxiously as they continued.  
"I'm outta here, you lovesick weirdos. I have to use the dead parts in that storeroom to pay for my food… and I need to convince the P-Bees, or give them defense against Raid…"

B.B. Hood turned to Orin, raising an eyebrow.  
"If she ever wakes up, tell the blue bitch that, the next time we meet, she's mincemeat, since she still released the both of you, and my inventory!"

"You're… not capturing Orin?", Bishamon said, confused. "Obviously, I don't want that, but your motives confuse me."  
B.B. Hood scoffed, crossing her arms ostentatiously.  
"I may be a no-good Darkstalkers hunter, but I know rules of honor. You two spared me, I'll spare you until I see you again. You better stay hidden, pale-faced witch."  
B.B. Hood left triumphantly, sure that her words carried weight on their mind, and her coat swished behind her dramatically as she descended down the staircase.

Now that there was silence, Orin pressed her ear against Lei-Lei's chest.  
There was no sound.

In desperation, Orin placed both hands on Lei-Lei's wrists.

No physical pulse could be found.

Orin began to cry, and she sought solace in Bishamon's arms.  
Bishamon couldn't answer for a while, as he was numb from the tragic death of Lei-Lei.

"We… must rest her somewhere," Bishamon suggested.

Bishamon picked up her two hefty Swiss-army-knife-esque contraptions that were kept in her sleeves. Orin lifted Lei-Lei up.

"Let's place her in one of the uninhabited rooms downstairs, Orin…".

They slowly carried her down, and Orin began to chant various 'have a good afterlife' rites, tears running down her face.

The couple laid the re-dead corpse on a bed.  
Bishamon picked up a sheet, and draped it over Lei-Lei's face, not able to look at her face while he did so due to being disturbed by the face of a corpse.

Later, Lei-Lei opened one eye [as that was all the strength she could muster], and didn't recognize her surroundings. She looked around, only finding white cloth; her arms were too weak to move, but she found a bowl of [unbeknownst to her] grave-honoring rice and a pot of tea, which she consumed with great enthusiasm.

Only one thing was on her mind, though.

_What are… __**they**__ doing, right now?,_ Lei-Lei thought._  
_There was a loud 'hmph'.

_**Why would you care?**__, _Mei-Ling said, countering very condescendingly.

_What…? Sister, what are you… talking about?_

_**Oh, you really want to know what I'm talking about…?**_

[[Endnote: Mei-Ling is, err, angry.]]


	49. What Did I Say THIS Time?

[[Author's Note: Quote courtesy of Lei-Lei in Namco x Capcom. Yes, she's talking about who you think she is.]]

_I told you, he's not my boyfriend!_

As Lei-Lei sat to recuperate her energy, she began to wonder what her loved ones were up to.

Anita and Cecil would be in Brisbane by now, as Raptor gave off his final world performance before the three of them went off their separate ways. Anita and Cecil would remain together, as they had always; she knew Anita would fend off 'D' one day, she knew Anita would face her insecurities. Anita would one day find her destiny.

Lei-Lei began to contemplate her own destiny at this thought. In her other life— as Orin had told her— she was a senjutsu master who went to save her mother's soul. In this life, she had been trying to save the honor of her family via revenge.

What was her purpose now? What was she trying to save?

For all of her life, nothing had seemed so vague and uncertain as that odd bond she had with Raptor; how she had dreams about that performance in Las Vegas, how she desperately wanted to say something besides what she _had_ said at Hokkaido.

It was something foreign and wrong, she notioned.

She suddenly felt an overwhelming realization, and it all made sense; her odd dreams, her mangled words at Hokkaido, her denial, her sister's denial.

Lei-Lei ran over to the door, her new mission well sung in her head. She would find Raptor; she would wait until his world tour hit Japan again, and go to his performance.  
_**No**_, Mei-Ling said to Lei-Lei. _**We both know that he did the world tour merely to help us with the information. He probably will… want to rest in peace, as there's nothing really left for him to do.**_

"What?!"

_**In his years of trying to win you over--**__** as he knew us from before-- you chose the mission over staying with him for an extra few days, **_Mei-Ling stated. _**I'll admit, even **__**I**__** was a little disappointed in you.**_  
"I-I didn't want… to be selfish," Lei-Lei said. "I wouldn't let myself be won over by love."  
_**No**_, Mei-Ling scolded. _**You only 'figured it out' now. Your denial, my denial, and our sneaky, selfish tricks to delete the love that fueled this entire mission have rendered us as ingrateful shrews. We murdered his heart so callously that it should be a crime; we're worse than Arthur, Lei-Lei.**_

"No, don't say that!"

They were both silent for a few moments, Lei-Lei trying to collect herself.

She had to do this; her life had no real purpose without Anita, Cecil and of course Raptor being there. She had entertained them with stories of folktales, had joked with them, laughed with them, _lived_ with them. She had bonded with Anita as if they were mother and daughter, despite a very, very small age difference.

_Even if I actually don't love him, I'll still go, for Anita…_, Lei-Lei thought.

_**Go**_¸ Mei-Ling pleaded. _**It may take you having to sell your weapons, but it's worth it.**_

_I don't even need these things anymore_, Lei-Lei justified.

She bolted to the door handle, and after turning it and dashing through, both Mei-Ling and Lei-Lei bumped into something.  
_**Oh no, it's John!**_, Mei-Ling said. _**Or B.B. Hood! We're doomed…**_

Lei-Lei froze with fear, and when she looked up…

…it was Raptor.

He looked out of breath, as if he had ran up to the apartment the whole time. HE seemed surprised, as if he had seen a ghost.  
"I-I, Bishamon tol' me where t', I couldn't—"  
Lei-Lei covered his mouth with hers [surprising herself], and Raptor's entire body seemed to flush.  
"L-Lei…Lei?", he said weakly, still five different forms of surprised.  
Lei-Lei dragged him inside and closed the door, wishing for some privacy.

The only thing heard outside of that room were slight squeaks.  
"Oh, Raptor…"

Anita and Cecil, who were running at full pace [but couldn't possibly keep up with Raptor], finally reached the apartment floor where Bishamon had placed Lei-Lei's body.

Cecil wanted to cry out to ask for Raptor, but Anita covered his mouth. She slowly crept over to the door, and, peeking inside through a crack, hurriedly backed away from it, her face cherry-red.

"What?" Cecil whispered. "What's wrong?"  
"Th-This ending was a lot… happier than I thought it would be."  
Dragging along a confused Cecil, Anita embarrassedly went into the taxi [which was being driven by Le Malta].  
"What happened?", Le Malta said. "Why isn't Boss with ya?"  
"Oh, w-we lost th-the apartment name and, uh, number."

Anita was staring out of the window in a fixed gaze, her face still luminescent.  
"Hm. I could use a nice milkshake right about now."

"Well," Raptor said as he and Lei-Lei entered the car flushed, "I heard they opened a Steak n' Shake not too far from here."  
"May I have one, too?," Cecil said politely.  
"…'Ell, I'm in such a good mood, everyone can 'ave one."  
"Even me?", Mei-Ling said, sitting in the passenger booth-seat with Anita and Le Malta.

"No, that'd be a waste o' money!"  
"Heheheh. I know."  
She seemed happy, too, as if something had gone the way she wanted it to.  
"Wait, wait, wait," Cecil said. "How would that be a waste of money? And what could possibly put you into such a charitable mood?!"

As the car drove on, Anita simply slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand, though it really covered a huge grin; Raptor, however, began to mush Cecil's head lightly into the window glass, nuggying him with his knuckles.

"_Owwwww! What did I say __**this**__ time?_"

[[Author's Endnote: Almost there! And no, it was not what you think it is. I would've labeled this 'lemon' if it was. Couples do things besides babymaking, you perverts.]]


	50. Trouble Man

[[Author's Note: Thanks for everything, folks! This concludes the Living Undead saga, I hope you enjoyed it. The second out of three fics is to be a silly bridging between the game, anime and cartoon canons, but the third is a serious Anita/Cecil-centered fic, featuring the characters not shown in the Living Undead. Watch out for me, folks!]]

_Gonna be trouble, it's getting' out of hand._

_Gonna be trouble, yeah baby I'm the man._

"It's been a few years, I noticed, and I guess I don't really notice these things, being somewhat immortal and all. My friends have told me I've become very business-y, so I'm scared. Either way, things happen to be sparkly, like the scales of a fresh cod.  
I've still gone back into singing, and I'm sure you could join us, as a member of the stage crew. I'm considering retiring from sisterhood, though I'll keep the House; the children need me, as much as yours need you.

_I'm gonna save ya, I'll be your knight._

_I'll be your savior, how 'bout tonight? Yeah!  
_

I'm sure you're wondering how I can do this, what with the singing career and all. They're coming with me, silly! My orphanage isn't very inhabited, and my three children will accompany me and my friends. Did you hear? Due to that thing I told you about— the whole saving me from monks thing— Raptor and I are secretly friends, so I'm a sideact of pretty fluffiness before the heavy metal picks up. You may know him. Skinny, blue skin, sometimes turns into a zombie? Yeah, him… oh wait, you went to the bar with us that one time, I'm so silly. Heehee.

_  
Gonna be trouble, baby I'm the trouble man._

_Want a fighter, come on; don't you understand?  
_

His girlfriend's amazingly cute though, I'm just amazed that it worked out so well. Lei-Lei, you know, the one that brought us together. Not like _that_, sillyface, but you know, she toured the world with Raptor, and he helped her find her killer. Isn't that romantic? Either way, I hope to see you soon. Drop me a call at my phone number, I'll be sad if I don't hear form you! You're my best friend. Oh, wait, you don't have a phone. Grr, it sucks you're a hermit!

_I can't be double!_

_Baby, I'm the trouble man!_

I'm glad to hear you and your adopted sons are doing well. I should meet them, I'm sure I'd do a nice job of teaching 'em how to sing! Oh, wait, you're teaching them fighting, aren't you? Oopsie! Ah well, you should send me pictures. Oh… come to think of it, it's been three years. They're probably your students now, huh? Oopsie!

_Baby, don't you worry, not gonna run away._

_Baby, don't you worry, yeah man, I'm here to play!  
_

Anita— the psychic girl, you know— and Cecil, that adorable but slightly inept boy, they run a joint shop in Mexico. Anita runs a little bookshop, while Cecil runs a computer and video game store. I heard on the catnip-vine that Raptor himself contributed money towards their dream. Isn't that sweet?

_  
Do you wanna start up? Don't mess around!  
Just come and get me; you're in this town, yeah!  
_

Though, it's kind of odd; the people who help Cecil out are a bunch of those… robots. You know, the ones we worked so hard to destroy two decades ago! Ah well, I guess it's okay, since he has them under his thumb.

_Gonna be trouble, baby I'm the trouble man._

_Want a fighter, come on; don't you understand?_

_I can't be double!_

_Baby, I'm the trouble man!_

_  
_Anita has help from a little blonde girl, and a huge behemoth. I don't know where they came from, but the girl is only ten or eleven! She's _so _darling. I love children.  
I suggested it to Harry, but he said that he was too busy helping me with my tours to do such a thing. Such a sweet boy, you know. I can't believe that he's an adult! Time passes by so fast…

_  
Don't you cry, I will dry all your tears.  
We'll be alright, oh my love.  
Don't you cry, I will love you.  
Never leave you...leave you alone, yeah!  
_

I know you don't have TV, but I'm sure you heard it in the papers; you know, Lei-Lei saving everyone form the hulky Arthur. He's scary, personally. I barely remember fighting a grey-skinned guy, and… oh! He's the one working for Anita!  
I feel so silly sometimes, do excuse me.

_  
Gonna be trouble, it's gettin' out of hand.  
Gonna be trouble, yeah baby, I'm the man._

But yeah, if you see anything related to the 'Raptor World Tour', I'll be there. They may even list me as 'Returning to the Mic, Coming From the Sisterhood: Felicia, the purrfect Broadway veteran and for your eyes and ears only!'. That l'il guy Le Malta's really nice with advertising, you know. He's friends with the kids… But either way, drop me a line, or, if you don't mind a slight joke, throw me a freakin' doggy-bone here! Heheh.

_You wanna rumble? How 'bout tonight?  
They want a war, just let them fight!  
Gonna be trouble, baby I'm the trouble man.  
Want a fighter, come on; don't you understand?  
_

I hope to see you soon! **XOXOXOXO**

-Love, Felicia [your bestest friend in the WORLD!]  
P.S. Please reply.

P.P.S. What does 'P.S' even mean?'

_I can't be double!_

Jon Talbain, who read this, found it increasingly difficult to not take out his frustration on something.  
"Hey, Jon," his older son said, "you okay?"  
"Yes. I just… need to think of something to do… Can you find the nearest post office?"

"Can do, Jon," the son said.

"He won't drag me into it, right?" the younger wailed.  
"Both of you, go," Jon said in irritation.

"_Nooooo!_"

As the two sons left to deliver Jon's response to the letter, Jon looked outside of the window of the dojo.

_It's a nice day_, he thought. _I wonder what Felicia's doing._

There was the sound of a jet passing over, which killed Jon's sensitive ears; it was Raptor's private jet, since the decals looked the same.

"_I never liked him_…!"

_  
Baby, I'm the trouble man._


End file.
